Ghost
by Hidden-Pen
Summary: After the events of Near the Lake, Nagisa and Shizuma are able to live without worry, Kaori is dead, and Rayne has finally shaped up, but what will happen when a series of mysterious events befall their lives?  Sequel to Near the Lake
1. Prologue

**Ghost**

Prologue

Dark, moist, and the smell of death; those were the basic compounds that made up the morgue. A lot of people probably wondered how people could consider this a "living". That's a story left for another day though. This is a story that essentially, for all you are concerned, "never happened" a tale that has been left untold for the sake of public sanity.

The weather for today was gloomy at best. The clouds seemed to bring an omen of death with them, just hanging over the city. Today was a day of change. Today was the day the clock would stop for just a few moments, the day the world would stop turning for just a second, the day that an unforeseen commodity would stop the hand of God, even for just a quick instant. Today was the end of everything we knew, it was the beginning of us understanding.

7:48PM, a delivery had just been made to the city morgue of a fresh new cadaver. Preparations for the autopsy had begun just seconds after it had entered. The new recruit had just reeled in the body and pulled the sheet down to reveal the face of the, "sleeping" victim.

There was an officer present for the unveiling, who emitted a sigh at yet another young life lost. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and nodded. He muttered out a simple "let's get some coffee before we do this."

"So, what's the deal Doctor?" Spoke the officer.

"Looks pretty standard, victim was shot in the heart, death occurred mere seconds later." Responded the doctor.

"Looks like we have got some work to do then, huh? Only question that remains: who was she?" The officer quizzed.

The doctor lifted up the clipboard with her information, reading it off. "Says here that her name was, Chikaru Minamoto. She was a detective, mostly of the crazy variety, but one of the best there was."

"So, we got a cop killer on our hands then?" He replied, sipping from his cup.

"I don't think so; I mean she had a lot of enemies, so this could easily be a revenge crime. It's too soon to assume anything really." Said the doctor.

"Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!" Screamed a voice from down the hall, getting closer with each call.

"What is it?" Asked the officer.

"Doctor, you have to see this. It's the body we just brought in, I've never seen anything like this before!" He wailed, almost in tears.

"I understand you're new, but surely you've seen a dead body before. Nothing out of the ordinary about it, she was shot in the chest and died, calm down." The doctor answered.

"No doctor, I don't think you've seen anything like this…" The other pointed out.

Curious, the doctor gestured for the officer to follow him to take a look. He obliged, but not before grabbing his cup to take with him. Making their way down the hall to the area with the bodies, the other doctor was behaving frantically the entire time.

The moment the trio entered the room, a loud shatter of a coffee mug pierced everyone's ears. The officer had dropped his mug in shock of what was being witnessed before him. There on the autopsy table, sat the previously dead Chikaru Minamoto. Completely naked, she gazed back at them through her thick locks. Life was in her eyes, not just that, but fire; passionate fire. The spark of life radiated from her so strongly that it was impossible for them to mistake her as dead previously.

There had always been stories of the detective's powerful gaze. Many had said that her amber eyes were rarely visible behind her unmanageable hair, but there they were, filled with fire.

A/N: Okay, so to make things clear as to what's happening for the reader: This is a mere few hours after the events of Near the Lake. So for those that remember (spoiler alert, but why are you reading a sequel before reading the original?) Chikaru, having just solved the Larkin, and Kaori case had just ventured into trying to stop Grace and Sophie. The death of Grace (Previously known as the Goddess of the Demon) had cost Chikaru her life. Last we all recall seeing her, Rayne was carrying her outside as the police were showing up. So we are only a matter of hours away from that instance.

So, how has everyone been? Yup, I'm pretty much an ass. I disappear for a long time, especially after promising more. Here's the story: I left fanfiction behind me to pursue more original works. I noticed however that the third Strawberry Panic! Light novel was finally going to be translated after about 2 years of delay, so I decided as celebration I would finally follow up on that promise of a SP FF since the fanbase is pretty much seeing the end of the series soon. So this is my present to you. I want to say you can expect fairly frequent releases. I am expecting this one to be fairly long, so get ready. What's to come? Well this IS going to be another Chikaru POV story, so don't hope to escape that. I won't give away much, but I WILL say that some of the other characters ARE returning.

Anyways, if you have questions, concerns, or just want to yell at me for taking 9001 years to produce crap, you are always free to PM me.


	2. Step One

**Ghost**

Step One: Recollection

Throbbing; _Thump. Thump. Thump._ The sound coming from my skull. I don't think I've ever had a headache this severe in my entire existence. This pain, it was overwhelming, I could barely stand, I could barely think. Getting my thoughts together to determine what I had to do next would be quite a challenge. This pain felt unnatural; sort of artificial even. I was having trouble standing up, so I propped myself up against the wall, trying to rest for a moment. Trying to regain my composure for even just a moment, so that I could think about what was happening.

"Where do I go from here?" Was the first thing that came to mind. I couldn't go home, despite the idea of seeing my Rei was very inviting. There was nowhere in Japan that I could think to go.

The doctors at the morgue were understanding enough to give me some clothes to wear. A long white lab coat, a simple black blouse, and some clean black dress pants. Needless to say it was nothing like my usual attire, but it was better than nothing, not to mention I couldn't expect them to have much on hand; and I certainly could not wear the clothes I had entered in. What I really needed now however were the bare essentials: money, a place to go, and some time to contemplate.

Money wouldn't be too big of an issue thankfully, I had saved up my cash from when I was working, and opened a special savings account known only to myself. I put the account in an alias name that I used while I was a detective on a few cases. My paranoia from the Kaori case had lead me to be prepared. I wanted to be ready to disappear in a moment's notice to get away from her.

I ran my way down to the bus stop so I could catch a ride to the bank that I needed to reach. Upon arrival I noticed my reflection in the glass at the stop area. I looked unchanged. My hair was so long that is came close to my ankles. I grabbed as much of it as I could in the back, and placed it into a ponytail. The large bunch that danced in my face got brushed behind my ear on the left side. I had never noticed how interesting my eyes looked. They had such an adorable color to them. I looked a little more professional with my hair at least partially tamed as I had it.

"Rough day?" Asked a stranger standing at the bus stop with me.

"Oh, yeah, I suppose you could say that…" I commented.

"I know the feeling. Are you a doctor?" Asked he.

"Oh, yes. I work at Tokyo hospital actually." I lied.

"Well, you're a long way away from Tokyo then aren't you?" He quizzed.

"I actually was called down here to look at a body in the morgue; they said something was strange about it." I saved my lie. At least for the most part I was building off of actual fact.

"Really now? What was strange about it?" Asked he rather curiously.

"I'm afraid that much is classified." I responded.

"Heh, forgive an old man for being so nosey. I forgot that you doctor's have that patient-doctor confidentiality thing, secrets left and right, and whatnot." He apologized.

"More so than you'd know." I laughed.

The bus ride was short with few stops in between. I guess I had just missed most people's lunch hour, so the busses weren't being used very much at the current time. It was just another day for everyone else in this town, but not for me. I don't think I'd ever be like everyone else ever again. My life was about to change, but then again if I really thought about it, what was I truly losing? Rei deserved better than me. She deserved a lover that came home every night on time, someone who didn't risk her life every day just "doing her job". She deserved to not have to live in secrecy. No matter how I looked at it, Rei deserved far better than me. On top of that, I had essentially abandoned my friends. Most of them hadn't heard from me in months, even years.

"Ms. Aya Asuka, is it?" Asked the bank teller.

"Yes, may I get a balance check for my account?" I asked.

"One moment please." Said she.

She clacked away at her keyboard at several thousand keys a second it seemed. I had grown curious as to just how much money I had put into that account over the years. This actually was a surprise to me. I kind of enjoyed the excitement really; it was like winning the lottery almost.

"Alright, our records show the following on your account." She said handing me a receipt.

I actually was only slightly shocked. I had assumed a large number, but this was a bit out of my guessing range. Still it was more than enough to work with, 481,920,027Yen. I decided it'd be best to get some in cash right now.

"Can I withdraw about 20,000 please?" I asked.

I had decided to rent out part of a half house. Although it would mean I would have people living right next to me, it also would mean secrecy. I couldn't get a hotel, or an apartment, because I'd have to make a rather sizable paper trail, which was undesired. I needed to find people who were willing to make a transaction with only a verbal contract. Although I had documentation to fool my way through any kind of legal process, I would rather not leave behind too much that could even potentially lead back to me.

Fortunately, with my knowledge of the area, I knew that there were plenty of places down in the southern part of town, near the lower middle class area. A lot of people are hurting near that area, and won't think twice about easy money being thrown their way; people that won't ask a lot of questions, which is exactly what I needed.

A quiet walk down town gave me some time to collect my thoughts. My name was to be Aya Asuka from now on. Chikaru Minamoto was for all the general public is concerned, gone. Not dead, nor missing, just gone. I was no stranger to changing my name and identity, but this was the first time I felt so odd about it.

Despite being a new person though, I would have to be ready to gather my stored information. Fortunately I knew where to gather copies, and how to get to some of my records unnoticed. The hard part was going to be covering my tracks. I couldn't afford being discovered, or anyone asking any kind of questions about what I was up to. I had to take care of business, and do so silently.

There were only a few facts I understood at the time. The first thing being that the girl with Grace, Sophie I think her name was, she will want me dead if she learns that I am alive; Second that I have much information that I need to gather and bring forward from working on the Goddess of the Demon case, and the Kaori case; Lastly I couldn't risk jeopardizing the safety of anyone I knew by letting them shelter me. I was already in enough regret for the people whom have been harmed in working with me already; I could not bear to let anyone else befall the same fate.

For a moment, my mind fell onto Rayne. She could have died for me only a matter of hours ago. She _wanted_ to die for me. Was that really to return a favor? Or was Rayne just legitimately concerned about me is what I wonder though. I may never know though, Rayne has a strange way of thinking, and that only she seems to understand.

I hoped only that Rayne was holding up alright, and wasn't too upset about the events that just transpired not too long ago. If only she knew I was still alive. I wished I could tell her, but I'd only be putting her back into the fire I just barely got her out of. The best thing for her now was to leave her be.

With money in my pocket, and an idea of where to head, I wished only to be able to get some rest, and think about what I'd do tomorrow.

A/N: First Chapter is short. Setting the scene crap. I'm actually planning on writing a lot of this while I'm at work, so I'm expecting at the VERY least weekly releases, but don't quote me on it. This is essentially the boring crap that not everyone cares about, but I can promise I'll get complaints about if it's not included.

I promise the next chapter will be far more interesting. As always, feel free to rant, review, tell me how shitty my work is, or how much you enjoy it.


	3. Step Two

**Ghost**

Step Two: Plotting

"Chikaru-Sama… We're always going to be friends right?" The small and delicate Kagome asked peering up at me.

"Always, I promise. I'd never leave you behind, that much you can be sure of." I promised taking the young girl in for an embrace.

She smelled so natural; and aura of precious flowers seemed to radiate from her hair; a scent that could not be mimicked by any perfume. It was a girlish aroma that seemed to only reflect her innocence that much more. I was coaxed into relaxation as a stroked her golden hair. If only I was more like her; carefree, calm, and collected.

She looked so adorable in her school uniform. The peach colored sweater and plaid pink skirt suited her so well. She wore it better than I could myself that's certain. She had a sort of sisterly feel to her, which made me wish more and more that I had a sister. Kagome was my sister, maybe not in blood, but in our hearts. I vowed to befriend her, watch over her, and protect her. She was too precious not to take care of.

"You'll always be in my memories when you're not here, Chikaru-Sama." Said the smiling Kagome.

Wise beyond her years, that much was certain. It was as if she had some kind of power over detecting how others were feeling. I pulled her in for another hug while whispering, "Don't worry."

"Chikaru… You must understand your past in order to move into your future." Kagome's voice suddenly sounded much more serious, and older.

I let go of the embrace and was being stared down by the much older, sickly Kagome that I last saw; her hair longer than her body length, being dragged across the ground; her eyes, white and pale. She had no emotion showing in any part of her body. Lacking body language, and tone of voice, this creature was nothing like the little girl she had once started out as. She was dead in appearance, and in mind. The gaze she gave off was cold and could easily be mistaken for the breath of death if one was not facing her.

She wasn't even properly clothed. She had on a simple black cloak which hung open, revealing her blue brassier and panties. They looked so much brighter in contrast to her sickly skin. Not a bit of luster in her entire body. It was sad to even look at her, it made your heart drop knowing that someone could endure such suffering in their life.

"I devoted the rest of my life to you. I spent the remainder of my time on this Earth ensuring you could accomplish what you wanted to do. Don't let that be forgotten." She spoke between coughs.

"I don't understand…" I admitted shamefully looking down at my feet.

"I can't help you there. Just don't forget" She re-stated.

With those last words she transformed into a cloud of dust, only to be blown away by an unnatural breeze of wind.

My eyes opened hastily. I swatted my hair away from my face and pulled myself out of bed. Doing a quick stretch I was able to nimble myself up enough to work my way over to the bathroom to gaze into the mirror. I had sweat running down my face. It wasn't uncommon for me to worry in my sleep, but that particular dream seemed so real for the moment. I can't recall the last time I thought about myself from when I was seventeen, and still in Lilium, but before things went downhill in that dream, it actually felt a little comforting. Sometimes I wish I could go back to that time; to go back and pretend this all never happened, making my only worry keeping up my grades and attendance. What I wouldn't give to go back to such a simpler time. It was too late for that now though; there was little point in fantasizing about returning to the old days now.

Moving forward was the only option now. Today was to be an eventful day that much was certain.

After taking a quick shower, I made my way out to the front of the house to get some errands done. I was stopped by the landlord.

"Going somewhere so soon Ms. Asuka?" She smiled.

She was a middle aged woman, a little shorter than me. She had very little signs of aging upon her however. I suppose that was just from years of taking care of herself, and caring about her appearance. It was surprising though to know she still did this after her husband had been dead for nearly 4 years.

The place was a half house, as I intended to acquire. I paid upfront in cash, no questions were asked any further than that. The landlord seemed to have some sort of liking to me, so she just gave me a small speech of how if I needed a place to stay that badly, she wouldn't pester me with questions. I felt a little bad for taking advantage of her kindness, but at the same time it was exactly what I needed. A place that I could stay for the time being with little questions being asked. As much as I hated to word it this way: she was a perfect pawn. I could come and leave without any records of me being there. It was almost too perfect in a way.

"Well, I was thinking about cleaning myself up a little… Maybe it'd be easier to find a job if I got a haircut?" I replied very softly. I never realized I could sound as innocent as I did in my youth.

"That sounds wonderful! I'm sure there's a very beautiful girl underneath all that mane of yours." She laughed.

Normally a comment like that would be rude, but I had to agree with her really. I hadn't taken care of myself in a long time. I was disgusting to look at almost. I hadn't gotten a haircut in eleven years. The last time I got dressed up was at my own wedding; since then I just dressed casually everywhere I went. It was odd to think about really. I used to be so fashionable and tidy in my youth. Little details like this made me realize how much the whole Kaori case hit me. I had changed so much of my life for that case, that I wasn't even the same person anymore.

"Believe it or not, I actually used to be a shy pretty girl." I laughed.

"Well, good luck today. I hope you're able to find a job!" She smiled.

"Thank you, I'll do my best." I replied.

I bowed and left from there. I didn't really feel much like discussing the matters anymore anyways; after all I couldn't afford to get attached to anywhere right now. I needed to quickly move to my next goal.

It was about 10:30AM. I recalled that Rei worked from 9:00 until 6:00 on Weekdays. This left a large window where she would not notice me if I slipped in. My "death" had occurred about a week and a half ago, so she would more than likely no longer be on leave from work at this point. The only problem was that in my paranoia I had my home surrounded with as much security as I could afford, however fortunate for me: I knew all the holes. I kept a remote that would shut down the security system in the shed out back. If I could get to that remote, I could easily shut down the system, and reset the time on it to make it appear as though it had been on the entire time. This would give me several hours to gather things I needed from the house, not that I'd need that long. I would only need a few minutes to get everything I needed.

The bus stopped about six blocks away from the house. I approached using the back street, and kept my hood up, to prevent being recognized. Sure enough I was right about Rei, she was nowhere to be seen, and her car was gone.

Quickly I scaled the fence and hurried to the shed. I had forgotten it was locked, but with the adrenaline that was going in my body, I pulled out a pocket knife I bought and began to pick the lock. I couldn't risk going into the house for the key, as I recall there was an alarm that would go off if I tried to force my way into the house. Not to mention signs of my entry would be evident.

Success with the lock allowed me to quickly dart in and shut down the security system. I spared no time from there, and quickly slipped on a pair of gloves that I had brought with me. I couldn't afford to leave any evidence of me being here.

Before entering the house, I took my shoes off and left them upon the back porch. This was to prevent putting any kind of footprints onto the floor.

Inside of our bedroom I grabbed Rei's degree from Yale from the wall and began the delicate process of removing it from its frame. I made sure to ensure the frame remained perfectly intact, so I could place it back unnoticed when I was finished.

After I got the paper out, I slid it into the scanner for the computer in the same room. I had a bunch of police computer equipment lying all over the house, so this would be an easy venture. After pulling up the certificate onto the screen, I began to work it in photoshop right away. With little effort I was able to remove Rei's name, and major. Placing the assumed name "Aya Asuka", and major of "Psychology", I was able to change the certificate easily. I placed some stock paper that would make a sufficient duplicate into the printer, and ensured that the printer would be sure to place the correct seal on it.

After that was complete I grabbed my fake, and gently moved the original back into its case. After only five minutes of work, I had a passable copy. I placed it into a folder, and set my computer to back up all data onto an external hard drive I had bought just a few days ago for this occasion. While it began the back up, I rushed downstairs to grab other things I'd need. I didn't grab much, mostly things that either won't be missed, or Rei didn't even know we owned. A box of latex gloves, a spare side pistol that I kept tucked away, and a pair of scissors.

By the time I was done gathering my things from downstairs, sure enough the information from the computer was copied. I grabbed the hard drive, and threw it in my bag with the rest of the items I took.

Quickly turning on the security system again, I made a quick escape. I timed the entire event, it took twenty seven minutes total. Not bad for all I had to accomplish, I was a little proud of myself.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a picture of Rei and myself that I took with me. I can't remember the last time I saw myself smiling, or laughing like I was in that photo. I looked actually like I was enjoying myself for a change. It was before all the police work, before I had become obsessed with what I do.

Rei looked so majestic. I felt like I didn't stop and take enough time every day to appreciate her. Like I let all of her beauty go unnoticed for so long. Sure I told her I loved her every day, but did I ever stop and think about why? Did I ever take the time to go out of my way every day to prove to her she was worth everything to me? She gave so much love to me, and put no price on it, and in reality if I really thought about it; I couldn't return that love to her.

When I stepped off the bus, I gazed at the picture in my hand. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I reached into my pocket and flicked out my lighter. Without any further thought, I set blaze to the frozen memory. Rei deserved better than me, and maybe now she could find that. Perhaps now she would find someone who would treat her the way I used to. Everything was always about me; it was too late to change that though.

"Good bye Rei…" I whispered to myself.

I arrived back at the house late that afternoon. I rushed directly to the bathroom to take care of the final set of tasks for the day.

I gazed at my pair of scissors for a solid five minutes. My hair was part of who I was at this point, but parting with it wouldn't be so difficult, as I wished to release the person I have become. Taking a deep breath, I began to clip, with the thought of my plans for the next few days.

A/N: I know, I actually released another one SO SOON! Well there's a reason. I work on Fri, Sat, and Sun. It's a six hour shift, and there's not much else to do. You'll also notice this chapter is a little more of the length I'm used to. Expect the rest to be about this long, or longer. Now, the return of the fun fact.

FUN FACT: I actually might be releasing several chapters a week, not sure exactly how many this story is going to stretch to, but I'm guessing at LEAST 15, it may be as many as 30 though. It all depends on how long it takes me to get where I want it to end up.


	4. Step Three

**Ghost**

Step Three: Identity

"You certainly cleaned up very nicely." Giggled my landlord. I have come to know her simply as Yuka. She seemed to take a liking to me.

She was of course referring to my little make over from last night. I had done a fully fledged make over. I couldn't remember the last time I spent so long grooming myself. It was a bit nostalgic in a way really.

I had transformed my hair to a much lighter color, a gentle auburn brown that would match my eyes far better than the previous sleek black hair I had. Gone were my long unruly locks, but I decided to keep the side bang look going. In their place was a short shoulder length cut. My hair was light enough now to where it actually could dance in gentle breeze, rather than needing heavy wind just to move it. My side bangs swept to the left side, and my left eye just gently peaked out from under them. The look felt flirty and more approachable. More importantly, it cloaked my identity far better. Anyone who knew me would recognize the wild mess I called hair from a mile away. Most people recall me as the girl who didn't even know the meaning of the word "scissors". Naturally it had become a part of my personality to some. You know how they say you can sometimes just tell how a person is how they look? I was one of those people. They say not to judge a book by its cover, but really if you truly think about it; a majority of people won't think twice about something if it doesn't catch their eye the first time.

A part of me missed the feeling of my cloak of hair, but another part felt freer without it. It was like a great weight was lifted off my shoulders, literally.

The hair wasn't all that was changed. I picked up a pair of glasses to match some of my new clothes. I was going for a more attractive approach, while still looking mildly professional. The glasses were essentially just glass lens however, merely cosmetic appeal, and to aid in throwing off who I was to anyone who might have recognized me otherwise.

The difficult part however was hiding my tattoos. In retrospect, my decisions to get two tattoos in my youth was one that would hinder me now in the present, as I stupidly decided to get one of them in a rather noticeable area. It was my Raven Clan emblem, right there on my damn shoulder. This meant I needed sleeves at all times. I considered using makeup to cover it up, but being jet black in color would mean it'd be difficult to hide with simple cover up.

Fortunately the other tattoo was in a far less noticeable spot. It was my school emblem for Lilium. I had it placed on my lower stomach right upon my pelvic area. The only way anyone could really see it is if I pulled my underwear down really. I had gotten it to remind me of the days at Lilium, to remind me where I came from. Now that I look back at it, it feels more like I needed a reminder that I was still me that somewhere in this body Chikaru Minamoto was still alive. Through all the aliases, all the paranoia, and all the lies, somewhere in here was the sweet innocent girl from Lilium; the delicate virgin, precious to all involved in her life, and so caring to others in return. Somehow, in the midst of all of the pain and tragedy, she vanished.

My new appearance though gave off an aura closer to that young girl I was, and not the paranoid woman I had become I'd assume.

"You think so?" I replied to Yuka.

"I know so." She teased tapping me on the nose.

She wandered off to go pursue more housework, but not without putting a smile on my face. For the first time in years I actually kind of felt pretty. Dare I say it, I even felt _sexy_. I couldn't help but be a bit dazzled. This must be what Rei felt like for many years. Then again I'm not the flirt Rei was, that's for sure. It's easy to see where her sister Shizuma got it from.

I had made a few phone calls the night before to set up strategic moves for the day. I was referring to it like a giant chess game now. Everything I did was part of a greater strategy, and every move carefully planned out. I didn't take a single risk in my strategy, and could not afford taking guesses; everything had to be precise. It all had to be dead on; perhaps that's just the paranoid, perfectionist in me speaking though.

I had pushed for some papers I had drawn up to be pushed through, using an anonymous alias and dropping them off unnoticed; I had to check today to see if they made it through.

To check my progress, I decided to utilize a library that was far out of town. I traveled a good twenty-five miles out of town just to ensure I'd be at a more secure location. I needed to use a computer to check some databases; however I could not afford to be tracked. Logically thinking, the solution to such a problem is simple. I would need to use a public computer, preferably one where no one is going to keep records of me using it, even more importantly one where so many people walk in and out, no one will remember me specifically. That part was perfectly figured out; however I needed to add further security by going out of town. In the event someone does catch on, I needed to find a way to link it out of town, so it doesn't come back to me. Not to mention this would greatly decrease the chance of anyone recognizing, or remembering me. Many high profile criminals that I've had to chase used this method; this made it essentially impossible to track them using their computer usage. Eliminating a digital trail is just as important as eliminating the paper one.

Upon arrival, everything went exactly as expected. I'm not even given a second glance. The only part I forgot about was the fact they'd have camera footage of me, however I knew that security footage is thrown away after a period of time. By the time anyone would catch on, that footage would be long gone.

I sat down at a computer casually, so far everything was working smoothly, and now all I had to do was check my information and leave.

A smile played my face as I gazed at the screen. _Perfect _was the only word that came to my head. The papers I had delivered were successful. I needed to "get rid of", a certain employee at a place of business. To do so I checked her record that was on file. From there I found her signature, and studied it until I could duplicate her handwriting. Directly after that event I created a fake letter of "adult affection", and had it speaking about a minor. I then had her "accidently", send it to the wrong mailbox. It only took a matter of hours for her to be dismissed from her position, and to be under investigation. Being with the police force before, I knew as a fact that cases that involved children not only got more attention, but were acted upon far quicker.

Quickly I pulled out a flash drive and plugged it into the computer. It contained special police software for eliminating history and covering up tracks. We used it in investigations for when we searched suspects' computers. It basically just set the computer back in time as if we never used it.

After wiping out my presence, I logged off and vacated the area very quickly. _So far so good_ I thought. Everything was working flawlessly thus far.

I framed that woman. I have potentially pinned a crime upon her, that if convicted would ruin her forever. What I just did was a crime. It felt strange being an officer and knowing that I have just vastly broken the law, not to mention utilizing police equipment for unauthorized personal use. I had become a detective though to deliver justice. After I finally became one though, I quickly discovered that the law prevents justice from happening a majority of the time. The cops play by all the rules and the criminals don't. At this point, the only way to proceed, the only way to make any progress was to accept that I was now to ignore the law. Everything is permitted from here.

I do feel bad about that woman's predicament, but I needed a swift solution, and that's just how things had to be. I'm no hero. I did what I had to.

Going back now wasn't an option, not that I had any plans to. I was serious about this operation, and I needed to it to the end.

The bus ride to where I was heading next was long, but gave me time to think. I would love to have a car to get around, but I could not acquire one. Using a car means I would have to register one, which creates a paper trail that I do no desire. The same would come from renting one. The only other option would be stealing a car, but if I were caught, then I'd be getting much more questioning from the police than just about a stolen car. Essentially getting a car was not an option.

I kept thinking back to that teenage Chikaru. The girl I used to be. For some reason I felt more like her recently than I ever have. It felt kind of nice, it was just too bad I couldn't be the real me again. I've been so used to being someone else for so long that sometimes I wonder if I even remember how to be me, if that I've molded myself so much to be someone else that the original mold is still in me somewhere.

I arrived at an internet café back near my hometown, where I had brought a laptop with me. I ordered one coffee while I conducted business. I pulled up my resume that I had pulled together with the fake information I coordinated before. I was assuming the role of Dr. Aya Asuka, from Yale University in the United States, Ready to take the position of the woman I just "let go".

Using the internet café was a choice of logic as well. I didn't want to send an email from the computer I just used to check information on the person I was trying to replace. I couldn't allow such a connection being made to this alias.

I sent off all I needed; now it was just a matter of time. I would await the interview, take the job, and move on to the next step of my plan.

With a degree from Yale, and the massive amount of "work experience" I had stacked onto that falsified resume, I would very much ensure that I was chosen to replace the previous employee.

I had never actually lied on a resume before, mostly because I didn't have to I suppose. When I lived in America I worked at a bar as a bartender for a period of time, but I didn't even have to submit a resume then. I got that job because Thief had a cousin that knew the owner.

That was a thought that hadn't crossed my mind in some time, Thief. I wondered how she was doing; I hadn't seen her in years. Hell, her and a majority of the Raven Clan actually. The last time I saw any of them was Rayne only weeks ago during the incident. Chances are though that by now the news has traveled that I'm dead, after all unlike me, Rayne would stay in contact with old friends, so much that she'd probably want them to be the first to know of their former leader's passing.

I wished I could see them again, but as it stood right now, it didn't look like I was going to get that chance anytime soon at the very least. I may never see them again for all I knew. It may be for the best though; they can remember me for what I was, and not what I've become.

The only thing that mattered now though was moving forward, and getting to where I needed to go.

Only a day later did I receive a phone call about the position. I went and bought myself a prepaid phone that I paid for in cash to use for the occasion. If you buy a phone in cash, without a contract, you can easily falsify the registration details. I put down an address that was miles away from where I was actually staying, and of course used my alias name. I would use this phone only for a small period of time, then dispose of it to further eliminate the trail.

"Hello, is this Dr. Asuka?" Asked an older woman on the phone.

"This is she." I replied calmly. It was difficult to remain calm, as I was a bit excited about the whole operation.

"I am calling about your resume. It's very impressive, and we'd like you to come over for an interview as soon as you're able." She spoke.

"Of course, I heard about the incident with your previous psychologist, and I was very devastated about the situation. I figured the least I could do to help was offering you my services." I skillfully lied.

"Thank you so much. This whole incident is really bad reputation for the whole institute; it's got a lot of the students stirred up as well, a lot of them could use a new face around here to help them forget about the incident. To be honest it really took me by surprise! I never would have suspected her as such." She seemed a bit more relaxed now.

"It's always the last person you expect, now isn't it? I do hope that she gets help though, after all this is a growing issue within the world. If we don't take the time to understand the minds of these people, we can never hope to stop this from occurring in the future." I kept feeding her more bullshit.

"Right, I agree full heartedly." She replied.

There was a short awkward pause.

"Right, so I will see you tomorrow perhaps, say 10AM?" She asked going back to the original subject matter.

"That should work out perfectly, I'll be there. I look forward to meeting with you." I answered.

"Excellent, we can't wait to see you!" Said she.

After the call ended I slid the phone into my pocket, and a smile played my face. I did it. The only thing that was bothering me now was a feeling of awkwardness. In order to move forward, I had to go backward. I was soon to be an employee at Astraea Hill.

A/N: Chikaru you sneaky, mischievous woman. Back to Astraea we go. Yup, I told you we were going back to the roots. What's in store next you ask? Well that would be telling.

FUN FACT: There are actually some interesting back stories of characters that will be revealed soon, which I'm sure readers of the originals will enjoy.


	5. Step Four

**Ghost**

Step Four: Backtracking

"At one point, I was a lot like you Chikaru-sama. Lost, confused, I had no idea what to do with my existence. It was the day that I learned my time on this planet would be so short." Kagome Spoke.

She sat next to me on a small park bench. There wasn't a soul to be found anywhere in that park. You could stare off into the distance only to see a thick white fog. Not a single tree in sight, not a single person playing in the entire area; no passers by taking their dogs for a walk, or their children to the sandbox, just the two of us conversing with each other.

"I realized though that I was already dead; dead in essence anyways. I had to accept my mortality at the age of eleven, while most don't until the midpoint in their life, or not at all. Some don't realize what death is until a moment before it comes for you." She continued.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, I realized that meaning for my finite existence wasn't going to just appear before me. After I had accepted that, there was only one thing I could do; to put meaning within my own life." She explained.

"And that's why you did all you could to protect me in my life?" I questioned.

"Sort of", she was being cryptic.

"What do you mean, 'sort of'? Is there more you're not telling me?" I asked.

"Well, sometime after I got sick, I realized that the figure of God as we knew it wasn't exactly true. You already know that now though." She glanced at me for a quick instant.

I nodded.

"Well, when I realized that God was not looking out for me, or the intentions of mankind, and was just some little girl treating us all as some kind of experiment, I realized that we all wasted our lives fearing what happens after death so much that we forget about life." Her story seemed rather compelling, but there was pain in her eyes.

"Where do I fit into all of that though?" I asked.

She sighed and leaned back onto the bench hugging her teddy bear. She looked odd being this grown sick woman hugging a stuffed animal in the middle of a public park.

"There is far more to it than I originally thought. I found evolution, but I kept it to myself. In my mind the rest of the world wasn't ready to handle the power that I had discovered. I used my power to carry out my will, so that I could die with no regrets." Said she.

"So is that all I am? Just some way of you relieving yourself of your own sins?" I was a little tense.

"Don't mistake me Chikaru-sama. I cared about you, and if given the chance to do it again, without knowing what I did, I'd have still done it. The information I did know, wasn't even all of it either. There was so much more that I never got the chance to discover, I'm certain of that. Grace knew something I didn't that much is positive." She tried to calm me.

"You are something special Chikaru-sama, and I'm sorry you had to go through all of this, but there was nothing I could do at the time. I was powerless when this all began." She added.

"It's not your fault Kagome. You actually tried to help me, and for that I can only be thankful. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead right now." I smiled.

"You have only yourself to thank for that, the always resourceful and devious Chikaru-sama of Lilium." She laughed.

I couldn't help but giggle a little myself. That brief moment made me happier than I had been for so long. I only wished it could have lasted longer.

"Dr. Asuka, are you in?" I heard a hand banging on my door that woke me from my lunchtime nap.

"Yeah, I'm just finishing some paperwork; I'll be out in a minute." I lied.

_What an odd dream_. It wasn't the first I had obviously, but it felt so real to me. I could almost feel Kagome still in that very room. If I hadn't been certain she was already dead, I'd have assumed she were still hiding somewhere around me.

Grace had some kind of master plan that much is obvious. What kind divine being would leave all of this up to chance? Still, with her dead that meant that now there was no God. From here on out, we all decided our own fates, with no protector to watch us.

I suppose now it'd be time to explain how I'm still alive then? Well to be honest I wasn't certain myself, but here's my guess. When I shot Grace, I didn't die until moments after her. When I killed her, for that brief instant I eliminated the rules of death. For that moment there was no one controlling life or death. I didn't wake up until a few hours later, which is when I recall appearing in the morgue. It was farfetched, but really the best explanation I could come up with.

I opened my office door and stepped out into the hall. The student council leader of Spica was awaiting me. She was a final year student, whose name I could never seem to recall. Her appearance was always so tidy though. She was probably the most well kept of the three student council presidents. I was a little saddened to see that my spot at Lilium as president though was filled by a rather snobby rich girl, and that Spica now held the model president.

"I was instructed to lead you to meet with some of the teachers today; the head master insisted you get to know the other staff members." She had a very loud voice, loud but still professional.

"Yes, get on with it then." I yawned.

"Understood, right this way." She gestured.

The day was filled mostly with meeting instructors who most of which seemed to gawk at my profession, and education. Too bad both were a lie. It was all pretty ordinary until we made it to the history department.

"Who might you be then?" Said a very womanly voice.

Her voice was feminine, but she sounded grown up. It matched her appearance. She looked very professional and serious about her job. Elegant glasses resting on her nose, which complimented her light colored eyes. She had long silver hair that seemed essentially flawless. A perfectionist I was sure.

She was very gorgeous that much was certain. Her eyes seemed very powerful, like they could draw you in instantly so she could snatch you. A powerful aura resonated from her.

"I'm Dr. Aya Asuka. I started working here about two days ago." I explained.

"Ah, the new school psychologist, I was wondering when I was going to meet you. A lot of the other staff members have been talking about you." She smiled offering a hand to be shaken.

"What might they be saying about me?" Asked I pushing the brim of my glasses back up onto my face.

"Well I'll be honest. Most of them say you're a tad strange, but I kind of like that in a person." She was blunt, an odd quality for someone so elegant.

"I'd say they are quite accurate in their assumptions. I'm quite an odd individual." I took her hand.

"Well then it should be very interesting having you around then won't it?" She smiled at me.

"Might I ask your name?" I questioned.

"Oh how rude of me. It's Shizuma, Dr. Shizuma Hanazono." She spoke rather proudly.

My mind froze. How did I miss this? I had completely forgotten the chance of running into old friends. I should have done research on this. I should have gone ahead of time and looked into what everyone who would recognize me was doing, to avoid them. Shizuma was right there in front of me, how did I get here? How did I overlook so much as to threaten my position so soon in this plan?

I could now recall when I visited her about Kaori seeing her degree in history hanging on her wall. I should have put two and two together.

"You're rather young for a doctor." She commented releasing my hand.

"I could say the same for yourself." I raised a brow.

"Yes well, I'm actually pushing thirty." She laughed; she had an interesting sense of humor, as I remembered her having in the past.

"I'm twenty-nine as well." I commented.

"You don't look a day over nineteen to be perfectly honest. There's something youthful about you." Said she.

"Really?" I said.

I was a tad surprised to hear such a statement. I was certain that my years of poor sleep, and dedication to my job had aged me. Perhaps I really did look younger when I was properly groomed. To confirm her words I did a quick glance at the window. She was right, I was very youthful. I looked maybe twenty or so at best, only slightly older than I was when I and she stood in this school together the last time.

"You should tell me your secrets." She laughed.

"Maybe some other time, doctor." I kept it professional; I wanted to avoid getting too social and personal with her.

"Not a big talker are you?" She tilted her head.

"I'm a woman of a few words I suppose." I attempted to steer the conversation into a close.

"Well, then I shall be patient with you doctor, and try not to make you uncomfortable." She winked.

"I appreciate it." I sheepishly accepted her offer.

"I really must be getting back to my office though, I need to take care of some things; still not fully situated." I made an excuse to leave.

"Alright, it was a pleasure meeting you Aya, catch me sometime this week and we'll do lunch together. I'd love to get to know you. I love getting to know my co-workers" She smiled.

"I'll keep that in mind." I replied.

Swiftly I made my way out of the room. Upon doing so I felt a bit of relief wash over me, which was pleasant. I was making my way back to my office area quietly, trying not to draw attention to myself. I nearly jumped however at a voice I heard calling me from around the corner.

"Chikaru-Sama? Is that you?" Spoke the voice.

I pivoted quickly.

The voice belonged to a rather child-like girl. She was clearly a senior, but had a childish appearance about her. With her long silky black hair, and light blue flower hair clip, she was very feminine. The hair clip might be what made her appear so childish perhaps; it did however go nicely with her aqua colored eyes. She had some of the brightest eyes you'd ever see on a person; they were almost unnatural, especially in contrast with her black locks.

She was wearing a small amount of eyeliner to draw attention closer to her eyes, which was quite successful really. She was fairly busty for a teenager, so I could assume that could be possible to the reason she wanted to draw attention to her face, though I felt it was hardly necessary with those eyes.

She was quite adorable in a sense with that Lilium uniform. The uniform hadn't changed a bit since I wore it, which made me feel a bit nostalgic. She filled it up fairly nice; however her body frame was a bit small, so the sleeves looked a little big on her. Her fingertips just barely poked out of the holes her hands were supposed to be exiting. She was cute, kind of like teddy bear cute.

"Who? I'm afraid you're mistaken young lady." I lied.

"Are you sure?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Why not come into my office and we can talk about it?" I gestured.

"Alright." She shrugged.

I lead the girl into my office quietly. Upon entering I locked the door behind me and lead her to the back of the room.

"Sky Minamoto. Am I correct?" I asked as she sat down in a chair putting her feet up.

She wasn't very lady-like at all.

"So it is you isn't it Chikaru-sama?" She asked again.

I sighed, I decided there was no point in trying to cover it up now, "yes it's me." I answered.

"So, what's with all this Dr. Aya Asuka stuff?" She quizzed.

"Listen Sky, I'm going to make myself very clear here, and I need to you listen to me." I started.

"Go ahead." She gestured playfully.

"I am Dr. Aya Asuka now. I'm your school psychologist and you must treat me as such. You must never refer to me as Chikaru ever again, or even insinuate we're related, or hint at all that I'm someone else. As far as you're concerned I'm Dr. Aya Asuka." I explained.

"Why though? What is going on?" She asked.

"Look there's a lot of stuff going on right now, and I need your cooperation. If you don't listen you could be putting my life, and others lives in danger, and that's all you need to know. Do you understand me, Sky?" I was stern in my advance.

"If you say so." She nodded.

"How do I know you're being sincere?" I asked.

"Chikaru-sama, you're my favorite cousin, I would never lie to you, ever." She actually spoke serious for that moment.

"Alright" I sighed, "how did you know it was me?" I added.

"We're family; I could just feel it you know? It's weird because we haven't seen each other for like, what? Eleven years?" She laughed.

"Yeah, just about." I nodded, trying to relax now.

"You were in high school the last time I saw you. You're all grown up now though!" Sky commented.

"I can say the same for you squirt." I picked on her.

"I guess so, last you saw me I was six!" She giggled.

"Last I saw you, you didn't have boobs." My cynical sense of humor came out.

"I recall you used to have a much calmer and less rude personality." She blushed covering her chest.

"Things change, people are no different." I replied.

I reached into my wallet and pulled out a photo of myself and Rei, and passed it onto Sky. She took it and stared at it intently.

"Who's the beautiful woman in the dress?" Asked she with a smile on her face.

"That's Rei, my wife." I rolled my eyes.

"So all those jokes about you liking girls weren't jokes?" She teased.

"Shut up." I rolled my eyes yet again.

"Who's the other girl here?" She questioned.

"That's me." I answered.

"What? No way! What did you do to your hair! That's such a mess, I can't believe it. Chikaru-sama, who was always known for being so neat and tidy dressed so casually, and with hair down to her ankles!" Sky was getting excited.

"I was a different person. I think you remember my parents died, my life changed drastically that day. I was forced to change everything I was, and become something I didn't want to be. I ended up becoming a detective to stop running away, and now here I am, hiding and running again." I sighed.

"I heard about that, but I hadn't heard about you since then. I know what you're going through though, when my parents died, your mom and dad became like a second set of parents to me. You were like my older sister." She admitted.

"That doesn't explain what's going on now though." She added.

"I thought this would be over when I caught the man who killed them, but I think that was only the beginning of something bigger." I explained.

"I think I've uncovered some really big stuff; stuff that people will want me dead for, stuff that could change the entire world, but it's a dangerous game from here on out. I can't risk anyone discovering me, or I'll be risking everything." I was a bit stressed about the situation now that I voiced it out loud.

"I want to help you." She came out with those words so swiftly that I was taken by surprised.

I sat up and gazed back at her.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked.

"I'm serious. I want to do my part, and you're family to me Chikaru-sama. I want to help you do this. You sound like you need a friend right now." She was stern now, an emotion I didn't see on her very often.

"Go back to your dorm Sky; you don't need to involve yourself in this." I sighed.

"It's too late. I'm involved already. You said yourself you can't take any risks, so if I don't work with you, then you have to kill me to ensure I don't tell anyone, am I right?" She said.

"Fine, but no bullshit, I need you full cooperation, and you need to listen to everything I say, got that?" I commanded.

"Of course. Outside this room, you're Dr. Aya Asuka, and I help you in silence." Sky nodded.

"Don't make me regret this Sky." I warned.

"Chikaru-sama I would never betray you. I'm your friend, and more importantly I'm your cousin. You're not the last Minamoto anymore, we're in this together. That's what family is about, working together and not abandoning anyone." She placed her hand on top of mine.

"We're partners in this then." I sighed, placing my other hand atop of hers. Her hand was warm, calming even. Perhaps having an ally would be a good thing for me, not to mention a family member being involved would make me feel more relaxed about the situation. I know I can trust Sky, I only wished she was concerned about her personal safety more.

She's lucky; she's able to live so carefree and make her choices without much thought. She hasn't been through what I have.

A/N: Shizuma has returned. More on her later, I promise. We're finally getting to introduce the other major players of this story.

FUN FACT: Sky actually was a decision I made early before the story's creation. I wanted Chikaru to have someone to assist her in the story, and wanted it to be a family member so she wasn't the only Minamoto, as to relieve a bit of her burden. Thus this character who was actually originally cut from Near the Lake appeared.


	6. Step Five

**Ghost**

Step Five: Disappearance

"So, I heard you solved a bunch of big cases when you were a detective, huh? You got pretty famous, then just sort of disappeared." Sky was just as curious as I remember her.

When she was a little girl she would always be asking questions; most of which were about ridiculous things. I recall the famous "when do I get to wear that uniform", for my entire time at Lilium. Now here we are with her being the wearer of it.

Right now however she was in her pajamas. She had a lacy sky blue top on that had a pair of cotton bottoms of the same color. You could see her black bra strap resting on her left shoulder, due to her top being a sleeveless spaghetti strap top. She had taken out her hair pin, and all her hair was let down ready for bed.

She had wandered out of her room to come see me in my office, which I usually stayed late, so she was always able to find me. I usually told her earlier in the day if I was leaving early, sadly though I would be here until midnight most nights.

"Yeah, well being a detective isn't all about being a hero, a lot of the time you have to sit there and let criminals do what they want because the law stops you from doing anything. I always kept my personal life out of my professional life." I explained.

"Many people from my youth don't even know I was a detective, simply because most of my work was recognized in America." I added.

She fiddled through my things as I checked through school records.

"So what exactly are you doing Chikaru-sama?" Said she as she went through drawers and cupboards.

"Trying to find out when the Etoile election is." I answered without gazing up from my screen.

"Worthless competition of who's the most popular. Why do you care about a thing like that?" She asked.

"It's the biggest event in the school; I can use it as a distraction while I take care of some business." I explained.

"Clever as always, aren't you 'princess of shadows'?" She teased with an old nickname.

"Shut up." I flipped her off.

"So out of all the things you could have made yourself to infiltrate this school, why a psychologist? I mean you could easily slip in as anything else." She questioned.

"Simple. Psychologists being doctors, this school doesn't put cameras in their office, to ensure doctor-patient confidentiality. It would allow me to work without being noticed. Basically this room is the only one where we are not being watched besides the dorm rooms, and I doubt was going to be able to pass off as a student again." I joked.

"You might be able to; you look very young Chikaru-sama." She spoke with sincerity in her voice; she obviously believed I was really that youthful.

I blushed a small amount; essentially Sky was telling me I was young and beautiful, just not in so many words.

"Hey what's this?" Asked Sky pulling an object out of a drawer.

I looked over to see what the object was, and seconds after identifying it I commanded her to put it back immediately.

"Why? What is it?" She quizzed.

"Just put it back Sky, I'm not kidding." I was losing my patience.

"Tell me what it is", she demanded.

"Fine, it's a bullet." I answered.

"It doesn't look like any I've seen." She said.

"That's because it's a special round. It was custom made for a Mark XIX .50 Desert Eagle. I had that bullet crafted from real lead, so I would put it down if I were you." She hinted.

Sky did as told.

"Why that specific bullet? More importantly, where's the gun it goes to?" Asked she.

"I keep the gun on my at all times, usually in my bag with my 9mm; don't lose that though, cause that's the only bullet I have for that gun." Said I.

"Why would you have a gun that you only had one bullet for? Where did you even get that thing, I thought they were military issue?" Sky was very curious today.

"I bought it off of someone not too long after the accident. The purpose of it is none of your business." I was rather rude with my response.

She crawled closer to the desk and leaned over it trying to make eye contact with me. I suppose she was trying to look serious or something to me, which was impossible with that childlike face of hers.

"The Chikaru-sama I know wouldn't just break the law without a good reason. Why did you get that nasty gun?" She questioned again.

"You're too young to understand Sky, but that gun is reserved for someone." I turned away from her.

She grabbed my head and turned it back to face her before speaking again.

"Who?" She was worried I could tell.

"Me." I was short with my reply.

She let go of my face and fell into the chair next to my desk quietly. She was clearly a bit disturbed by my response.

"Y-you?" She was quivering almost.

"Yes." I replied.

"Why though?" Asked she.

"I decided that if I have to go, I want to be dead instantly, so I chose a very high caliber to ensure I'd die from the first shot." I was softer in speaking now.

"Why would you want to kill yourself?" She was almost in tears.

"You wouldn't understand, you're still a kid." I was trying to end the conversation.

"Chikaru-sama, you were blessed enough to be alive right now. You could have died before, and now you're talking about killing yourself? Why would you want to do that!" She was hysterical.

"If you had seen what I have Sky, you'd understand. If this whole operation fails, I couldn't live with the guilt over my shoulders. I'd rather be dead than be forced to suffer that way. I've suffered enough for one life time, maybe even two." I was grim in my explanation.

"I may be young Chikaru-sama, but I'm not the little girl you knew eleven years ago. I've grown up, even if I don't look it. You can trust me, and as I said before I am in this with you." Sky commented.

"Thanks Sky, you're an angel really" I reached out and placed my hand on her soft hair.

She really was a wonderful girl; I was almost envious of her. My cousin had grown up to such a wonderful little lady that much was certain. I couldn't be prouder of her.

The next morning was a hectic one. I had discovered that the Etoile election would be happening in a matter of thirteen days from now, giving me plenty of time to prepare. I was already getting everything ready to make a speedy leave.

When I entered the staff room to get some coffee I noticed a lot of staff members were gathered around a television set. I could hear whispers of shock being exchanged. Curiously, I peeked my head over to see what all the commotion was about.

"Again, that is Chikaru Minamoto, dead at age twenty-nine. She was pronounced dead upon arrival at Tokyo hospital, several weeks ago; however the news has just been released to the press. A ceremony in her honor is being held from the police station to honor her achievements." The news reporter on the television spoke.

The news finally leaked out, the world would now officially know me as dead. If I wanted to go home now, it was impossible.

"I can't believe it; I had just seen her last month or so. I hadn't seen her for years." Shizuma cried.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Said I placing a hand upon her shoulder.

She turned to greet me and smiled lightly. Her eyeliner was dripping down her face.

"You remind me of her, for some reason." Shizuma pulled herself into an embrace.

_Damn it. _Could Shizuma recognize me? Impossible, there was no way she could make that connection, not to mention she was just mourning for me on the news. As smart as she was, she wasn't that smart. Still I couldn't take any chances.

"Do I now?" I asked.

"Yeah, but just your face really. She had a way different personality than you. No offense of course." She covered her mouth as a gesture of hoping I was not offended.

"None taken." I replied.

"Here, why not come with me to my office and we'll get you cleaned up. I have some eyeliner you can use to fix your make up." I placed my arm around her back leading her.

She simply nodded without saying anything.

The walk was short, and fairly awkward. Shizuma was a good bit taller than myself and had longer legs, so it made stepping in motion with her a tad difficult. I had to increase my normal walking speed just to keep up with her.

"You sure have a nice office." She commented wandering in.

"Thanks." I replied.

My heart was racing, I was skeptical about my next set of moves, however I had to calm myself. I had to make sure she knew I was serious.

I pulled out my gun from my bag and placed it directly on her spine and gave her a gentle nudge with it. I could feel the instant reaction from her in the gesture of her whole body giving off a twitch.

Quickly I wrapped my arm around her and covered her mouth, then slammed her against the wall. I wanted her to quickly determine that I was serious.

"Listen to me, I am going to uncover your mouth, and if you scream, I will kill you. There's no cameras in this room, meaning no one will be able to even know you're gone until someone comes looking for you for your first class at 9AM, which isn't for another hour. By then I can already be out of this building and on my way out of here, so don't think I am even remotely afraid to do this. Do you understand?" I threatened.

She nodded quickly.

"Good." I replied, releasing her mouth.

"What's going on? Why are you doing this?" She asked.

"Shut up and listen. I'm going to be leaving here in a few days, so don't bother. I work for the government, and we're investigating the death of Chikaru Minamoto, do you understand?" I instructed.

"Alright, but what does that have to do with me?" She was puzzled.

"You are not to try and investigate yourself under any circumstances, you could be putting others lives at risk, do I make myself clear?" I ordered.

"Alright, I promise, but I have to ask; what happened to Chikaru?" She questioned.

"She's dead, like you'll be if you don't listen." I nudged her with my gun again.

"Alright, well if you're part of the people who are trying to do her some justice, then I won't stand in your way. I had a lot of respect for her, and I always regret not expressing that enough. She was a very strong person, and I owe a good amount to her. I won't tell anyone I promise." She said.

She had a lot of honesty in her voice; I could tell that she actually cared about me. I felt a little bad for doing this to Shizuma. I honestly didn't want to kill her, but if she forced me to, I would have no choice.

I lowered my gun, and placed it back in my back.

"Don't tell anyone about this meeting okay? Don't take my kindness as weakness." I suggested.

"You won't have to worry about that. I'll work on keeping everyone occupied with the upcoming Etoile competition so that you can disappear unnoticed. I just want to do my part." She bowed.

"Thank you. I'm sorry I put a gun up to you." I sighed.

"It's alright; I understand that you guys have a tough job. Chikaru was a detective too." She replied.

"Yeah, I know." Said I.

"Will I ever see you again after this?" She questioned as she placed a hand upon the door.

"Let's hope not" I answered.

She nodded and exited the room without another word. It was safe to say that she didn't know I was Chikaru, and safe to also say that she'd keep her suspicion to herself. I leaned back in my chair and let out a sigh of relief.

A/N: Sorry Shizuma fans, I know some of you must have had a small heart attack reading that ending there, but fear not, she's okay. Expect 2 more chapters this weekend as well, as I have nothing else to do.

FUN FACT: I wanted the conflict between Chikaru and Shizuma to heat up somehow, but wasn't sure how to execute it in a way that would be meaningful. Eventually I decided to pull a gun on her. An original idea for this chapter was Chikaru was going to go and threaten Nagisa, but getting Chikaru to Nagisa was unpractical.


	7. Step Six

**Ghost**

Step Six: Improvisation

"So, what are we going to do after the Etoile election is over today? I mean you said you were going be packing it in after that, so what does that even mean?" Sky always seemed to have some kind of question about what I'd be doing.

"It's exactly that. I'm packing it in and leaving. I have other business that needs attending." I explained.

"Wait, really? Where to!"Asked she.

"That's none of your business." I glared at her as I spoke, hoping she got the message.

"If you're going, I'm going too." I was afraid she'd say that.

"Forget it. I can't take you with me, it'll only draw attention to me, plus you can be tracked to me." I protested.

"Tracked? By who? My parents are dead, and your parents who watched over me after that are dead. From there I just went to boarding school until I ended up here. Chikaru-sama, I don't have any family left besides you. If I vanished tomorrow then no one would even notice I'm gone except for the school." A large grin went across her face.

I sighed, "what about the school noticing you're gone? They'll come looking for you."

"I'm sure you can take care of that. I keep a pretty low profile here. I'm just an average B+ student. If I vanished a lot of them wouldn't even know I'm here, besides I don't belong with these rich girls. All you'd have to do is erase my records of being here, then I could come with you." She tried to convince me.

"No, Sky. This is too dangerous, our parents would roll in their graves if they knew I was willing to put your life in danger this far, let alone any further." I declined the offer.

"We're the only family we have. Our parents would be proud to see us sticking together, no matter what the costs. We're like sisters Chikaru-sama, and you're all I have in this world, please don't leave me here by myself. I want to fight with you." She had tears forming under her ducts.

"All this time, I've kept strong, because of you. It's because of you that I'm able to pull through despite having little left to go on for. Wherever you go, I want to follow you there. You're important to me Chikaru-sama." She choked on tears while speaking.

"Please, let me do this with you." She begged.

"Alright." I said in an almost inaudible voice.

"You mean it?" She perked up.

"Yeah, but you have to do exactly as I say from now on without question, alright?" My tone became a more serious one.

"Understood, you're in charge. I will do anything and everything you say." She saluted me.

"I'll work today on deleting your records so no one notices you're gone." I nodded.

"What about Professor Hanazono? Didn't you say you knew her from high school? She would realize I was gone considering we had the same last name and all." Sky wondered out loud.

"Don't worry about it; I've already taken care of that." I hinted.

"What did you do?" She said it in a way that sounded more like she didn't want to know."

"Don't worry about it; I took care of it, that's all that matters isn't it?" I was sterner in my voice.

My concerns about Shizuma standing in my way were minimal. I was quite convinced on top of that, that she was unaware that Chikaru was me. The news report of my death had her just as convinced as anyone else to saw it. In her mind, I'm just another cop trying to do justice to a dead comrade. It was almost too easy really.

Still it made me wonder about Nagisa a little. I hadn't seen her at all since her wedding. I wondered if she still had that wild red hair of hers, or if she dyed it. If she was older I wonder if she still had that baby face of hers, or if she would keep that ponytail. I bet she could look a lot more mature without it really. I couldn't picture her as Nagisa though without that ponytail though. It was sort of like her trademark in a way.

I remembered once in high school someone stole all of her hair ties and she put it up with a rubber band she was so desperate. Turned out it was Shizuma. You had to just love those practical jokes couples play on each other. Rei used to do it to me all the time, probably because I was so serious all the time, and she felt that having a sense of humor would lighten my burden.

Once I was in the shower and she snuck into the bathroom and dumped a whole bucket of cold water from the hose outside on top of me. The shock of the cold water made me jump nearly three feet off of the ground. She apologized over a million times through her laughter, but for some reason I just couldn't stay mad. I even found myself giggled a little at the ordeal. She was always so precious that I couldn't stay angry at her. She was a regular angel really.

If I recall, I returned the "favor" by pushing her in the pool when she was checking the chlorine the next day. She actually let out a girlish scream before she fell in, which actually was kind of cute. It was adorable that she still acted like a little girl at times.

Thinking about her made me miss her however. I hoped she was taking my "death" alright. I wished so much that I could be there with her right now. That I could be held by her, and fall asleep right next to her. That house of ours seemed so much bigger and spacious when I was in it with her. Every room that separated us seemed to be like city block it seemed.

I could still recall every detail of her face. Every curve on her body was engraved into my mind forever. If I had a piece of paper, I could probably draw her exactly from memory without a single mistake. The only difference was that she wouldn't be even half as beautiful on paper as she was in reality.

I loved everything about that girl; her wild and rapidly changing hairstyles and colors, her perverted sense of humor, her adorable smile, her little child like giggle, everything. I would have done anything to be able to go back to her again.

I had no choice now though. She was better off without me. She was safe, secure, and she no longer had to be worried if I would die before I came home. She wouldn't have to stay up late at night waiting for me to get out of work, which she did every time. I can't remember a single time that I had worked late to come home without her right there, waiting at the kitchen table for me. She even had kept all the food out, and didn't eat a bite until I arrived. Sometimes we'd dine at 2AM in the morning, but she never said a word about it. She never once expressed it bothered her to wait there for hours for a wife that wasn't the slightest bit punctual about coming home. She would just light up with that wonderful smile and ask me about my day.

She truly was too good for me. I was blessed to have run into a woman like her, who cared so much about me.

When I think of her compared to myself, I realize that I'm old. Not old in years, old in essence. I had become an old woman by the time I was in my mid-twenties, while she whom was entering her early 30s, had the spirit of a teenager.

Everyone had always told me that growing up was difficult, but I never imagined it would be this hard.

I bet she would have loved to meet Sky. She would have taken care of the girl like a little sister no doubt. She'd take her shopping probably every weekend, and out to lunch almost every Friday when she got out of work. I bet we could have been a really happy family the three of us.

The thought made me smile. I could already see Rei and Sky playing out front in front of the sprinkler on a warm summer day, convincing me to join them. We would laugh like a bunch of school girls, but we didn't seem to care. We looked so happy.

The Etoile election came very quickly at the mid day point. This was the big moment for me. I had already cleared out my office and into my bag. The rest of the stuff I had taken to the dump and burned the night before. I cleaned the office and erased any fingerprints I could have left behind. I wanted no trace of me being there. I had even left a note of resignation on my former desk for the dean to find. It gave a simple bullshit story of me having to leave for personal reasons, and that I was sorry I had to do so such short notice.

All of the staff members in the building were at the Etoile election in the auditorium near the other side of the campus. It was the perfect chance to make my move.

I had sent a report claiming the security cameras were malfunctioning, so that maintenance would turn them off for repair during the ceremony. This would make getting into the head master's office very simple.

I stealthily navigated the halls to the head master's office, and arrived only moments after leaving my own office. The door was locked. Quickly I pulled out a small lock picking kit that I had used while working with the police. I was actually fairly good at picking locks, as I had to do it a lot to get into places that contained valuable evidence.

The lock was undone in a matter of seconds.

Making my way inside, I was cautious to make sure that no one would notice me. Sure enough the office was empty. I rushed over to the computer and began to search the record database. I decided to start by pulling up anything with the name "Chikaru Minamoto" on it and delete it. Sure enough I was able to find old transcripts, student records, even student council meeting transcripts saved onto the school's network. I would have to delete it all. I needed to not exist to them, and then I'd have to delete anything with my current employment records on it.

I was racing through the deletions as I didn't want to linger too long; I needed to leave myself enough time to make my escape.

The room was so silent that a sound from behind me made my ears twitch. It was loud clicking noise, one that I recognized hearing many times when I was a detective; it was the reloading of a side arm. It sounded like a pistol of some sort. I didn't dare turn around to look, I just sat there quietly.

"Stand up." Said the person holding the gun.

I recognized that voice. I could never forget it. There was no way though.

"Eric Larkin I take it?" Asked I.

I obeyed and stood up, still not turning to face him.

He grabbed my hands and held them behind my back as he slammed me up against the wall. He then pressed his gun to the back of my head.

"The very same." He answered.

"Figures that you're back, putting you in the ground is a disgrace to the dirt." I taunted.

"Witty as always I see." He remarked.

"How are you still alive?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same question." He was calm in speaking with me.

"When I killed a girl named Grace, she turned out to be the Goddess of Life, so apparently for that brief instant the rules of death didn't apply. How about you?" I asked.

"Not much to say. Around the time you apparently shot that girl, I recall waking up in a funeral home. I left before I was noticed, so in their mind, someone just came and stole a body." He laughed a little.

I hated that laugh so much. I wanted to strangle him so he'd never laugh again.

"You always were a tricky person Chikaru." He commented.

"Trickier than you remember perhaps." I added.

I pulled my side pistol from under my skirt and pointed it his mid section. He hadn't even noticed the gestured until I jabbed it into his gut.

"What do you want Larkin? Haven't you caused enough trouble for one life time?" I was angry and sinister in my tone of voice.

"I had some business to finish up." He replied.

"You already killed my parents and ruined my life. You made me into a monster that I didn't want to be. What do you want now?" I asked angrily.

"You sure have changed." He sighed.

"You may as well rape me and kill me. You can't do any worse to me than you already have." I growled.

"Is that so?" Asked he.

I dropped my gun onto the ground. He looked down as he heard the thud it made hitting the floor, then looked back up to find me turning my head to see him.

"Go ahead." I insisted.

"As angry as I was about my demise, I have only myself to blame." He explained.

"We're not too different Larkin. It just so happens I'm a criminal now too." I smiled deviously.

"So the morals of Chikaru have finally been overlooked have they?" He laughed.

There was the annoying laugh again.

"Look Chikaru, I know what I did was wrong, but I would do anything to take it back. I want to redeem myself to you. Will you please give me that chance?" He asked.

I couldn't believe he would even suggest such a thing.

"You killed my parents and took my life away from me, then tried to kill me. What reason do I have to trust you?" I hissed.

"You know what I did with that 48% of the company shares I got? I sold them and donated the money to your police department. I wanted to make it up to you, and I figured it was the best place to start." He said.

"You took more from me than money Larkin. You took my innocence, and I can never get that back. I'd rather you kill me here and now than work with you. You're a sick pile of dog shit, and I hope you rot with all the rest of the fucking scum of the world. I hope that when they take you, that you piss your pants like a fucking girl!" I yelled the last part.

"I can't kill you Chikaru, I don't want to. I deserved everything you just said and more. I know I can never make up for doing what I did, but I want to try and move forward into the future. Please let me do this." He begged.

"You make me sick Larkin. How could you ever think I'd want to work with the likes of you?" I snarled.

I had turned around to face him now. He had a bit of a tired looking demeanor. He was just as I recall leaving him; a tall pretty boy with a gentle face.

"Look Chikaru, either you let me help, or I'll ruin your whole operation. I have photographic proof of your little event here at Astraea that I sent to a friend of mine who can upload it anywhere I choose. So either you let me help, or I take us both down." There was tension in his words.

I turned away for a moment to contemplate this. As much as I hated Larkin and would never truly forgive him for what he's done, I had to still attempt to make the plan work, regardless if I now had to accommodate another unexpected arrival.

"Fine, but you answer to me from now on. You're my bitch, and do as I say." I ordered.

"Not a problem. I won't stand in your way." He assured.

"Yeah, you better not. I'm not afraid to kill you, just remember that. If you even begin to become a threat to me or Sky, I will put a bullet right through your fucking skull." I threatened.

"I promise you, you won't regret this." He bowed.

"Too late for that now." I rolled my eyes.

"I finished deleting all the records; I want you to disappear before the ceremony ends, or anyone notices us being here. I'm going to be leaving here soon. I'll contact you when I get to the next location of this little operation. Wait for me, and for the love of Christ, don't breathe even a word to this to anyone." Said I.

"How will you know how to reach me?" Asked he.

"Don't worry about it; you won't be too hard to find I'm sure." I replied.

I made my way out of the office, and to the front gates of the school. Sure enough as I expected Sky was already waiting for me there with a bag over her shoulder.

"So you really are going to come with me aren't you?" I asked.

"I meant what I said, you are important to me, and I will do anything to protect you, and I want to assist you on this." She smiled.

"You've really grown up a lot, I'm sorry for not seeing it in the first place." I pet her on the top of her head.

She coed in delight at the affection I presented to her.

"Say good bye to Astraea, this is the last time we'll ever see it." I mentioned.

"It's alright, I don't need it. I have you." She grinned.

A/N: So now we've established Chikaru wasn't the only one affected by the death of Grace. Larkin was as well. Full of surprises huh?

FUN FACT: I originally never intended Chikaru to go back to Astraea, but realized with where the story needed to go, it was inevitable. So I decided to take advantage of that, and use it as the introduction to a lot major characters in the story. It worked out better than my original idea to be honest.


	8. Step Seven

**Ghost**

Step Seven: Relocation

"Escapism is a very common thing among people these days. No one really wants to live within reality; they'd rather be taken away by some mythical fantasy to live in a fake world. The fact of the matter is people just aren't able to cope with the real world much anymore these days." Kagome explained. She made everything seem so logical.

"Is that why you kept the black layer to yourself?" I asked tilting my head to get a better look at her.

"Sort of; I too was living in a fantasy for a long time. The black layer let me simulate the pleasures of living in the real world during my illness. In there I was perfectly healthy and able to do whatever I pleased." She answered.

I could detect a lot of bad memories from this. There was pain in her eyes, more so than usual. She looked tired and sad.

"You know in the end of my life, I could have uploaded myself into the black layer and kept on going. I could have continued control from there for all eternity." She said.

"Why didn't you?" Asked I.

"What would be the point? A world with no pain and suffering, and no human body is a world not worth living. Why bother living a synthetic existence?" She answered my question with another question.

"I suppose you're right." I leaned back.

"The black layer must be destroyed eventually if you really think about it." She yawned.

"You spent your whole life building it though; why would you want to invalidate a lifetime of work?" I raised a brow.

"If people find the black layer, they'll want to use it." She replied.

"So what? You said yourself that it's evolution. Mankind could learn a lot from that technology there." I said.

"Not yet they can't. Mankind must first understand the real world before they are ready to delve deeper into the virtual one. If people find it now, all they will do is become absorbed. They will see the fantasy world that is available to them, and in effect, they won't want to live in the real world anymore. Could you blame them though? Who would want to live in reality when there is another world with no pain or sadness in it? Just pleasure forever and ever." Kagome said.

"I suppose you have a pretty good point." I remarked.

"It would be the end of humanity." Kagome added.

Another dream about Kagome, it seemed as though I was having them every night. In a way they were kind of refreshing, reminding me how much I actually missed her. Ironically though the contents of this dream were telling me to live in reality, and here I am taking comfort in a dream. I suppose what Kagome said really is true; we all want to get away from reality, even if it is just for a few brief moments. I definitely felt that way a lot of the time.

Little Sky had fallen asleep on my lap during the plane ride. She looked so pleasant resting there. She was so childish really if you looked at her right.

We had traded her school clothes in for some more casual wear. She had a nice long sleeve shirt, which the sleeves were still far too long for her. I was wondering if fashion designers even took into account the fact that people had arms as short as hers. The shirt had a rather large neck hole, but it looked adorable on her. I chose of course her signature color.

This was also the first time I had seen her in pants. When she was little she always wore dresses that her parents got her, and the only other time I saw her was at Lilium, where she'd either be in pajamas or her school uniform. She actually looked pretty good in jeans. I had gotten her the flared variety as I figured it would compliment her figure nicely, sure enough I was right.

A first for her as well is that she was wearing sneakers. She had never worn sneakers in her entire life. She was so used to dress shoes that when she first tried them on she was ecstatic at how comfortable they were. She then went on about how she was jealous that "regular" people get to wear them all the time.

"Sky, wake up." I nudged her.

She yawned softly and proper herself in the upright position.

We made our way off the plane very quietly and once out of the airport I stopped Sky so that I could make a phone call.

"Ugh, why do we have to let this asshole in on this?" Sky protested.

"It was inevitable; don't worry though he won't stand in the way." I assured.

"I don't like him." She reminded.

"Me either." I responded.

The phone only rang for a few seconds before he picked up.

"Larkin, it's me." I spoke.

"Why not just call me Eric?" Asked he.

"Don't get cute with me." I scolded.

"Sorry, so what's going on now?" He changed the subject.

"I just moved to Los Angeles, we just got off the plane. I need to you get close to the area, but don't come looking for us directly. I want you to be close by, but we can't be seen together for long periods of time. You may want to change your appearance and such before coming here." I advised.

"Alright, what else?" He asked.

"Get rid of your phone." I added.

"Huh, why?" Said he.

"I was able to call you using your old cell phone number. If I can figure it out then chances are someone else can too. You need to eliminate anything that ties you into being Eric Larkin. So dump the phone and pick up a pre-paid one and sign it under a different name." I instructed.

"Can't we just use pay-phones?" He groaned.

"No. Payphones have all calls in them logged, and can be tracked. There's a camera in the booths usually, so they can go back and see who called from them. Pre-paid is the best way to go, as there's no questions asked, and you can get rid of the phone quickly." I explained.

"Alright, so what do I do then?" He was eager to get started it seemed.

"Nothing. You wait for me, when I need something I'll let you know." I hung up cutting him off; it sounded like he was beginning to protest my decision though.

"Sky, my new name is Dr. Emily Lauren, and you are my sister Sky Lauren. Do you understand?" I asked without turning to face her.

"No problem." She nodded.

"Let's go get something to eat." I gestured.

We stopped at a local Burger King, but I didn't really eat that much. I wasn't a big fan of fast food. Sky however had never had American food, so she was enjoying every minute of it.

"How'd you pay for this anyways?" She spoke with her mouth full.

"I had my money converted into US dollars." I informed.

"How much are we looking at?" Sky's interest was peeked.

"About six million American." I replied.

Sky nearly spit out her food when she heard that number. She probably had never even seen that much money, though probably a lot of people at her school had that kind of money.

"Where did you get that kind of money?" She was excitable.

"Calm down. I transferred a lot of additional funds I was getting to a private bank account that I had over the past six years. It added up rather quickly." I explained.

"So we basically have the money to do whatever we want don't we?" She wondered out loud.

"Well, money isn't an issue at the very least." I laughed.

"So what are we doing here in LA _sister_?" She giggled.

"You're enrolling in LA High, where I went to high school, and I'm going to take over as psychologist there as well. Same strategy as before, but this time we are going to take a bit longer." I explained.

"So you're deleting your records here too?" Sky quizzed.

"Yes, but there's more stuff here that I have to take care of as well, so we're going to be here for a while." I answered.

"You must be feeling quite nostalgic to be back here huh?" She laughed.

"Not in a good way sadly." I took a sip of my drink.

"Why not?" Asked she.

"Being back here reminds me of when I first came, the pain I felt. The fact that I know Eric is here as well isn't helping. It's like I'm reliving eleven years ago all over again. I don't like it; the sooner we can get this over with and leave the better." I was rather on edge.

My mind was actually on the dreams I kept having. They felt less like dreams and more like memories really. I don't really understand how though. I know as a fact I didn't interact with Kagome nearly as much as I have been doing so in these dreams. The thought was one that I decided to excuse quickly.

Finding a place to stay was very easy. There were tons of abandoned houses and building in LA, all we had to do was occupy one. I had chosen and old factory that hadn't seen much attention in years. It was on the far end of town, where no one would ever come looking. It was perfect.

I was able to get accepted at the school very easily, but due to budget reasons I was out on loan to another school for half of the week as well. Sure enough I recalled it as Nagisa's old school.

My first appearance on campus I was greeted by one of the coaches. She eyed me up top to bottom and smiled rather perversely. She was a bit younger looking than myself, and rather tomboyish. She had a rather masculine aura to her though, while still dressing and looking much like a woman. Unsurprisingly she was Asian. A majority of students at this school were Asian, unlike LA High.

"So, you must be the new psychologist?" She smirked.

I could already tell I was going to have an unpleasant time dealing with this woman.

"That's correct." I adjusted my glasses.

"I think I saw a memo being passed around about you arriving, it's Emily right?" She offered a hand.

I didn't take her hand shake.

"It's actually Dr. Lauren." I corrected.

"Ah, formal type eh?" She took her hand away understanding I wouldn't take it.

"You can call me Tucker, everyone around here does." She insisted.

Tucker, I remember her. She was one of Nagisa's friends from back when I was in the Raven Clan. Yes, I recall her, she was the insanely perverted one; thinks with her crotch and not with her skull.

"The pleasure is mine." I lied.

"I look forward to working with you." She smiled.

"Likewise", I responded.

A/N: Short Chapter. Plot turning point. Not really the best chapter, but some nice plot points established.

FUN FACT: Sky is actually not a lesbian.


	9. Step Eight

**Ghost**

Step Eight: Memories

"If you think about it, computers were easier to deal with than people." Said a rather quiet Kagome.

"How so? I thought there was a lot of technical crap for working with computers? Exactly how is that easier than just talking to a person?" I asked.

"That may be true, but all a computer is, is code. Everything is programed in, or soldered on. Everything is essentially predictable. Any problem I encounter I can correct in a matter of minutes, using nothing but simple logic. Humans aren't like that; they're random, and you never know what to expect from them. It's no wonder that many of them wanted to find the black layer, probably to live in it. Why deal with real people if you don't have to? If there was an alternative, then who would choose to stay here?" She explained.

"But what would be the point? Who would want to exist like that?" I questioned.

She smiled and turned to my direction. Her hand extended and was placed on my right thigh, it was cold. She had a rather innocent appeal upon her face.

"Don't be so naïve Chikaru-sama. There's few in this world wouldn't want to live in a perfect fantasy; even though they would get tired of it eventually. That's the problem with humans; they're never entirely sure what they want, never able to make up their minds." Said she.

"Sometimes I think I can't make up my mind either", I sighed.

"Well you _are_ only human Chikaru-sama." She giggled.

"Sometimes I question even that." My head hung low.

"You're right to question your humanity. After all, it takes more than a human body to be human. I will assure you though Chikaru-sama, you are very human-like. I promise you that." She lifted her arm and retreated back to her seat.

"I suppose that means you're not?" I raised a brow.

"Maybe in some aspects, but mostly I abandoned my humanity for the sake of progression. I had little choice but to try and make as much as headway as possible before my inevitable death." She smiled.

"I guess." I shrugged; I had little to say on that.

"Do you remember what you saw only moments before the cold embrace of death took you?" Asked she.

"I saw the world coming to an end. Dead bodies lay all across what used to be streets. Blood stains that were darkened with time painted much of the dry desert like landscape. There was no one spared; a massacre." My words were heavy.

"There's more to it than just that." She was quiet.

Suddenly I felt a tremendous headache overtake me. The pain was beyond anything I had ever felt before. I was crying in agony screaming for relief, but it didn't come. There were dark images rolling through my head; images of further destruction.

"CHIKARU-SAMA!" A young voice screamed over me.

I opened my eyes to find myself lying in bed. Sitting over me was the blue eyes of Sky. I could also feel sweat running down my face.

"Are you okay? You were crying in your sleep." She asked.

"Sorry, a bad dream is all", I assured her.

"I've never seen you act like that over a dream, there must be more to it than just a bad dream." She insisted.

I sighed.

"Sky, I know this might sound crazy, but-", I was hesitant "I have seen the world end." I finished.

"That's not so crazy." She commented.

"Really, how so?" I asked curiously.

"I've seen it too Chikaru-sama." She explained.

"When?" I sat up.

"I see the dream fairly often now. Of me in a destroyed world, no one left except me and you. Everyone is dead." She explained.

"When did you start having this dream?" Asked I.

"About six years ago." She said.

"Sky, don't tell anyone about these dreams except me okay?" I instructed.

"Alright, but why?" Asked she.

"I think they may hold some relevance to what we're trying to do, but I'm not entirely sure." I pet her head softly to calm her.

"Whatever you say Chikaru-sama", She smiled.

The next morning at work I was cautious about approaching anyone. I remember after my meeting with Shizuma that there may be people around who would recognize me. I had to be careful to assure that no one I knew approached me. Sure enough that would have little effect.

When I crept to my office, I was stopped by an older woman. She had snagged the sleeve of my shirt to get my attention.

My eyes focused on the blonde maiden. She was about my height, but she had longer arms than me. I had always been known for having long legs, but this girl was about the inverse of me; short legs and long arms. I recognized her though. I knew I had met this person before.

She was adorned with silver jewelry all over herself. A silver bracelet to match a necklace, and of course little music note shaped earrings. Silver seemed to be her favorite, as I noticed no gemstones on her at all, nor any gold.

She had a certain professionalism appeal to her. She was a woman who loved her job that much was certain, though it seemed in her coming years she had loved it a little too much. I could relate.

"May I help you?" I blinked.

"You must be the new psychologist, Dr. Lauren?" She smiled.

"I am." I replied shortly.

"I'm Dr. Ami Gardener, I'm the other psychologist, and I'm also a tutor." She offered a handshake.

It seemed a little pointless to me to offer a gesture of politeness after rudely grabbing onto someone. I tossed my personal feelings aside and shook her hand anyways.

This woman was sisters with Shizuma. I had a feeling she'd still be working here. She had only met me once, so there was no reason to believe she would recognize me, especially after she met with several random students almost every day. How would she ever recognize a girl she met once almost nine years ago?

"A pleasure." I faked a smile.

"You may call me Emily though", I wanted to charm her a bit.

"Alright, I'll try and remember that, likewise I would like it if you called me Ami." She returned the gesture of goodwill.

"Why does this school need two psychologists?" I questioned her.

"Well we've been having a lot of problems with the children here. We've had many reports of kids getting depressed around the school. We want to do everything we can to help them." She informed.

"So you guys really care about the children here huh?" I raised a brow.

"Definitely, they're the pride and joy of the school obviously. I am doing everything I can to help on my part, and it's going to be really nice to have your assistance, I look forward to working with you." She gave me a wink.

"Do you have children Emily?" Asked she curiously.

"No. I never could meet the right man", I commented.

"Well, maybe one day right?" She smiled again.

"Well, I have a little sister, she's sort of like a daughter to me I guess you could say. I've been taking care of her for a while now." I replied.

"Oh, who is she?" She seemed to light up at the conversation.

I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my wallet. From there I extracted a photo from the front pouch of it, and then handed it to Ami.

"She's adorable." Ami commented.

"Thanks, she's actually a little bit of a tomboy believe it or not." I sighed.

"I know the feeling." She giggled.

"It's a bit of a hassle, as I have no idea what she's on about half the time really." I shook my head.

"Well that's with all kids really, though a lot of the boys are into some of that new technology stuff that no one has any clue about these days." She nodded in agreement.

"She plays a lot of video games on the computer it seems; I don't understand them in the slightest." I yawned.

"I'm the same way!" Ami laughed.

"I haven't a clue what's going on in half the games kids are playing these days. It worries me at times really. I don't know what they're learning from them, or who they're talking to over them. It is quite stressful at times." She added.

"Yeah, she talks to a lot of strangers on hers too." I said.

"What's her name?" Asked Ami.

"It's Sky." I answered.

"What a beautiful name. You hardly hear original names like that anymore." She smiled.

"How did she happen to acquire such a lovely name?" She asked.

"Her parents were out of the ordinary, they gave her a strange name in hopes it would make her grow up to become an interesting person. I suppose it worked though." I shrugged.

"I'd love to meet her sometime." She nodded.

"I'll bring her here sometime then." I smiled in return.

"Great, well I suppose we should both get to work. I just wanted to introduce myself, and get to know my new co-worker." She waved.

"Nice meeting you", I waved in return as she retreated to her office.

Ami seemed to be a lot stronger than Shizuma was. That was hard to believe too, as Shizuma had always been a person of integrity, and known for getting what she wanted one way or another. Sometimes I could only imagine how Nagisa managed to tell her what to do ever. I'm sure they had their own little system though.

Seeing yet another Hanazono made my mind drift to Rei again. I hoped she was doing alright, and wished I could see her again. There was so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to talk about. I regretted not talking to her enough the most. I wished I came home every night and told her about my day more often. She was so patient with me. Almost every night I would arrive home, and when she asked me, I'd groan a quiet "I don't want to talk about it." She'd respond with that sweet sugary smile, and massage my shoulders, then kiss my neck telling me that she'd take care of me. She put up with me in a way that no one ever will. I can admit that I'm a pretty difficult person to get along with, especially in my later years.

At least I had Sky. She wasn't much, but she was family, and I was sort of glad to have some family along with me on this journey. Even if it was a little selfish to be putting her in danger, I didn't care right now. I just was glad to be able to spend time with her again.

A/N: Another plot establishing chapter, but we're finally moving into the good stuff I promise!

FUN FACT: I was debating where Ami should appear, but decided it was a good time to bring her in, a lot of the characters will be making a later appearance.


	10. Step Nine

**Ghost**

Step Nine: Interlude

I couldn't believe that Eric had the courage to ask me and Sky to dinner after what he had done to me; after all of the pain and suffering he put me through, he was acting as if I was just supposed to forget about it and forgive him. It sickened me that I was working with him, but to protect the safety of my investments, I needed to cooperate with him. He'll have my cooperation and nothing more, he could never hold my respect again.

He said he wanted to discuss the details of the plan, and catch up over dinner, and insisted I bring Sky as well. To even suggest that I wanted to attend any social event in his mixed company showed he was possibly the densest person to exist.

Both of my parents were dead because of this person, the fact that he still breathes air makes me sick to my stomach. The fact that he was brought _back_ after taking others lives was simply an indication that there is no justice in this world; all of that for money, money that he didn't even get. He killed them for no reason.

"Why are we even meeting with this scumbag?" Sky hissed.

"Look, I hate him just as much as you do, probably far more; but we have little choice in the matter. He knows too much, so we have to entertain him for now. Believe me, if strangling him with a piece of barbed wire was an option, I'd have done it already." I sighed.

Sky let out a girlish laugh. She was apparently amused by my hatred for Eric, which wasn't surprising. He essentially ruined her life too. She went to a boarding school after that, and from there to Astraea Hill. She had spent her whole life in private and boarding schools. This was probably the first time she got to experience the outside world.

Come to think of it, perhaps this is why she was so excited to come with me. She wanted to experience the outside world. Sky never really was cut out for that rich girl life. She had dreamed of a middle class existence, and it was being lived right now. That explains why she's been so excitable during this whole venture I suppose. She is able to experience the world for the first time. She's fortunate that her experience was not the same as mine.

"Let's wear something nice anyways." I suggested.

Sky nodded in approval.

She had picked out a nice sky blue summer dress, along with her signature hair pin. She had a flower like piece of cloth sewed to the right strap of her dress. She had chosen sandals to go with her outfit, which being that the weather outside was nice, I suppose that was a good choice, plus you had a chance to compliment her toe nail polish.

My choice was a more elegant red dress. Clearly I gave off the impression that I was older and more mature than Sky just from my appearance. My dress had one sleeve that draped over my left arm, and hide my hand down to my nails. The other side was held up by a small strap with no sleeve. It was creative to say the least. The skirt only came down to about six inches above my knee, and was jet black in color. It was a really nice two piece dress.

I had paid closer attention to my make up than usual, even if I didn't like Eric, I didn't like to go out to eat looking like I had just rolled out of bed. My Mascara was nice and tidy, and I decided against lipstick, as I usually did. Most of my make up related attention was put on my eyes. I never wore lipstick or anything really, except perhaps nail polish, which I was not wearing currently.

"You look really pretty Chikaru-sama", Sky commented standing behind me.

I stared into the mirror at her and me. We were both pretty. She was so adorable, that I was proud to be related to her.

"You look, amazing Sky. You've really grown up into a beautiful woman." I smiled.

"You're just picking on me", she blushed.

I turned and touched my forehead to hers, holding her there for a moment while I spoke.

"No, I mean it", said I.

Her face turned a shade of crimson at my words. She was so precious.

"Let's show that asshole what he screwed himself out of getting", I smirked.

Eric had chosen a rather classy place surprisingly. He had money, but he certainly had no class. He was just a dick in a suit really.

He had decided to wear a more business casual look. He had a nice button up blue shirt that had some darker blue stripes. His pants were black dress pants, nothing out of the ordinary. Clearly we out dressed him, which was just one more thing I would chalk up that I beat him at.

"You two look, fabulous", he was in awe.

"And you look like a piece of shit that rolled out of the dirt", I replied harshly.

"Yeah, what do you want Larkin?" Sky was trying to back me up it seemed.

"I wanted to talk. I know you don't trust me right now, and I understand that; but I would like to know what's going on. I want to be filled in on what we're doing", he insisted.

"No way, you can go an-", I cut Sky off.

"Sky, let me handle this." I pushed her back down into her seat.

"Look, it's very simple really." I started.

"If it's so simple, then why has it taken this long to explain what's going on?" Eric was starting to lose his patience.

"If you'd shut the fuck up, I can explain that", I scolded.

"During Grace's death, I had changed the rules of life and death for that moment is my theory. Thus causing me to be returned to life, I'm assuming that for some reason your connection to me created the same effect on you. That much we both know." I explained.

"Right, so where does that put us now?" Asked he.

"Well, something happened when I died", I got quiet.

"What was it?" He leaned in with interest.

"I saw the end of the world." I explained.

"What?" He raised his brow.

"It's true. I saw how our world was going to end." I insisted I was telling the truth.

To my surprise Eric seemed to believe me. He nodded and leaned in to hear more of this information. I guess with all the strange things that had happened to me before, nothing was really too strange to be happening around Chikaru Minamoto.

"So what exactly happened?" He seemed a little excited to know even.

"In about three year's time, this world will meet a great disaster." I explained.

"What kind of disaster?" Asked he.

"I know it sounds farfetched, but there will be another race that will appear and defeat us all." I said.

"Like an alien race?" Asked he.

"Yes. They will surpass us in technology and take our planet from us. Years of slavery will ensue, and the world population will be dropped to about .4% of what it is now."

"And we'll eventually be killed off by them?" He leaned in more.

"No. There is another cataclysmic event that will take place, but I don't know what it is. The aliens taking our planet will mean nothing when this next event happens. I don't know what that event is though, only that it will happen." I sighed.

"What if we prepared for the invasion?" He suggested.

"Won't do any good; even if we prepare for them, they will defeat us. Their technology surpasses ours, and their strength is far greater. The war must happen, and the suffering after it must also happen, there is nothing we can do to prevent it. All we can do is set forth for humans to have a chance at saving themselves from that second event." I told him.

"What do we have to do?" Asked he.

"We have to vanish from the world. We have to wait until after the war happens to reappear to the world. Before that though, we have some information that must be delivered to the public, leave that to me though." I said.

"Alright, and what do I do?" He questioned.

"Whatever I tell you to. Right now I need you to go and delete records of me in England from when I lived there briefly." I instructed.

"Consider it done." He nodded.

"You don't think I'm making this up?" I asked honestly.

"What reason would you have to? Clearly something supernatural has happened to us both, so whatever you saw we can't just ignore." He answered.

"I suppose so." I yawned.

"We still don't trust you Larkin, don't think for a moment this means that we do." Sky hissed.

"She's right, Eric. We are not friends, nor shall we ever be, you blew that chance already." I nodded.

"Look, like I said, I want to do my part to try and help. I'm trying to do the right thing." He said.

"If you wanted to do the right thing, you'd have killed yourself the moment you woke back up; you'd have never come to find me and Sky. All you have done so far is bringing pain and bad memories back to two women who have not only been trying to forget, but to move on with their lives. Don't bother trying to act like a hero now." I glared.

"I'll try and be more sensitive to the situation", he attempted to calm us both.

"You changed me Eric. You turned me into something I didn't want to be. When you killed them, you essentially killed me with them. Chikaru Minamoto is dead, and you're responsible for that." I looked away in disgust.

"Believe me, Eric Larkin died that day too." He commented.

I was a little confused by his words, but I shrugged them off and picked up a menu.

"Let's just eat and get out of here." I insisted.

The meal was short, but the entire time I had the vision on my mind. Even in my head it sounded crazy, but it was what I saw. It may have been a trick, or an illusion, but it was what I saw. For some reason I believed it. With what had happened before to me, anything was possible now. Maybe I had gone crazy though, either way I didn't care. This is what I knew now, and I would do everything I could to try and work with it.

A/N: Is Chikaru crazy? Well I suppose you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out more, won't you? Also the last chapter made us have exactly 20,000 words, and that is just plain neat.

FUN FACT: I was actually having trouble deciding what to have Chikaru wear to this dinner.


	11. Step ten

**Ghost**

Step Ten: Forgetting

"I have to ask you, what did I see? I'm not sure if I fully understand what I'm supposed to be doing." I questioned Kagome.

"Well, what did you see?" She raised a brow.

"I think you know what I saw. I think you saw it too. There's no way you didn't." I insisted.

Kagome leaned back and let out a sigh, but when she turned her gaze back onto me, a smile crossed her face.

"You're right; I did see it. When she touched me, I saw it for that brief moment as well." Kagome replied.

"Do you believe it?" Asked she.

"I'm not sure anymore really; I don't know what to believe. I mean the end of the world that sounds pretty farfetched, even crazy. How can I even trust the credibility of it?" I questioned.

"That's a good question, but really all we can do is assume it's true. Regardless of where it came from, if we ignore it and it ends up being fact, you will have essentially damned the entire planet for your refusal to accept reality." Kagome nodded.

"You're right. I've let too many people die in my lifetime, I won't let anymore die with my second life." I clenched my fists in determination.

"Don't forget Chikaru-sama, sometimes people have to die in order for the rest of us to live." She glanced over at me while saying the last part.

I awoke again to the sound of a rather annoying alarm. With a swift movement, I silenced the dream killer. I always hated those damned things.

In the shower that morning, I allowed myself to think about the situation. Grace's power touched Kagome as well more than likely, and somehow these dreams seem rather true now. I know Kagome is dead; gone from the mortal world. That needed to sink in deeper, because as soon as I understood that, I could force myself to believe that the dreams were nothing more than my mind projecting her false existence.

That poor girl though, nothing could be worse than the fate that befell her; lying in a hospital, sick and dying; no one at your side, and still the mindset of a child. The only difference is that unlike a lot of others in that situation, Kagome had eleven years to accept death. She was preparing to die for so long that when it finally came, she probably drifted away without much of a second thought. It must have been peaceful leaving the world with no regrets like she did.

The warm water relaxed my muscles, if only it could do the same to my mind. I could feel myself slowly slipping away. Sanity and reality were soon to be out of my grasp.

Arriving at LA High that day, I felt a little bit dizzy from the walk to the school.

Sky, whom had been eager to get out of the house for quite some time swiftly pulled me along to get to the school faster. She really did enjoy this public school far more than Astraea, which is where we differed. I recall first leaving Astraea to come here years ago, and my reaction was almost the complete opposite. Sky just wanted to see the world.

"I'll see you at the end of the day big sister!" She beamed as she wrapped her arms tightly around me.

I returned the gesture and pet her head softly. Upon releasing her she darted to the school waving back at me. She tripped on the way to the door and made me laugh a little. She seemed to trip a lot actually, she was rather clumsy.

When I got to my office, I flicked on the television and zipped through channels. _Nothing but garbage_, I thought. It seemed all that was ever on television anymore was worthless shit that no one really wanted to see, but because of many posses a low mentality, we are all forced to be burdened with.

My channel surfing would be interrupted anyways, as a buzz came to my intercom. I flicked off the Television and answered the call.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Dr. Lauren, there's a parent here to see you. Shall I send her in?" Asked the secretary.

"Yes, let her in." I said.

Only seconds later did my door open, and my eyes adverted attention to the stranger who entered my room.

I blinked in amazement at what I was seeing. _That tattoo_.

I recognized that tattoo anywhere; a half-moon like shape with a bird footprint in the middle. That was indeed the Raven Clan emblem. More importantly was where it was located on this person, right on her cheek. There was only one member of the Raven Clan that I knew that had the emblem on her cheek.

Her hair and eyes only confirmed their identity. Red hair, which had been let down to below her shoulders, along with a pair of ruby eyes. The only thing that was missing was the ponytails for her hair, and death glare. She looked so much more feminine with her hair down, she even had eyeliner on. Even her choice of clothes changed her so much. She had on a black spaghetti strap top on, and a pair of blue boot-cut women's jeans. At the very bottom of this arrangement she was wearing a pair of white and black sneakers.

I had never seen her release her feminine side before, I could even see her pink bra straps around her shoulders. I was more in shock of her appearance change rather than her actually being here. She was just one of those people, who you remember always being one way, and if they ever change, you notice instantly.

"You must be Dr. Lauren", she said.

"You may call me Emily", I instructed, while gesturing for her to sit down.

She took the offer and sat in the cushioned chair in front of my desk. She even crossed her legs. _That looks so unnatural_.

"My name is Maria, but everyone calls me Rayne." She smiled.

I rarely saw her smile in our youth.

"Well, what is troubling you, Rayne?" Asked I.

"Do I know you?" Asked she with a puzzled look upon her face.

"I can't say that we've met before, perhaps you've seen me around the building before?" I asked trying to steer her away from the subject.

"Nah, this is my first time in this building since I graduated years ago." She answered.

"You seem really familiar", she added.

"Maybe I remind you of someone? Do you feel you miss someone?" Asked I.

"Actually, yes", she got quiet.

"Tell me more", I said.

"Well, the news just got to me, but I heard Chikaru Minamoto died, you may have heard of her from the news?" She looked up at me for a moment.

"The name rings a bell, she was that detective correct?" I tried not to make it seem too obvious.

"Yes, well we went to school together. She was a close friend of mine, and I was there when she died. I remember the police asking me so many questions, but honestly I don't know what happened that day. I don't understand who those girls were, or anything." She seemed a bit frustrated.

"Perhaps you feel responsible for her death?" Asked I tilting my head to get a better look at her face.

"I was supposed to be the one to do it. She pushed me aside and sacrificed herself. She always did that kind of shit; always trying to be a hero, and selfless and whatnot. Damn it, I shouldn't have let her do it." She growled.

"You can't blame yourself, she did what she thought was right, clearly she wanted you to live for some reason." I tried to calm her anger.

"I wish I had the chance to talk to her again. I never got to tell her I was sorry for how I treated her when we met. I never got to tell her how she changed my whole life." Rayne was clenching her fists.

"I'm sure she knew Rayne." I smiled.

I heard her let out a few sniffles. She was crying. Rayne, the toughest girl I knew, the leader of the Raven Clan, was crying. I thought it was impossible for such a thing to happen. Sure enough, I could see the tears hitting her lap. When I tried to get a better look, I could even see her eyeliner dripping down her cheeks. She looked like a completely different person. I didn't think I'd ever see her this vulnerable. It was a sight to see.

"I just wish I could have done something. I just want to know what all of this was for!" She was getting hysterical now.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you all this, but some reason I feel like I can trust you", she sniffed.

"It's okay." I smiled sheepishly.

Inside I felt guilty. I had put Rayne through more stress than ever she was able to handle. If Rayne had a hard time comprehending what was happening, I could only imagine what other people were feeling about the situation. Hurting people was something I didn't want to do, but it looked like I hurt more people than I thought.

"Rayne, I'm sure Chikaru would want you to be happy. If she was really your friend, I'm sure she'd want you to live happily. She was clearly a very selfless person; she did what she could to help the majority." I extended a hand to her from across the desk.

Selfless. I can't believe I let myself lie like that. I knew as a fact I was far from selfless. I put others lives in danger for myself, and even worse now that I have been given a second chance I continue to do so. Sky's life was in threat because of my actions, and I just kept her with me. I knew as a fact that it wasn't because she told me to, because I know that Sky wouldn't tell a soul if I told her not to. No, it was because I was lonely, and I wanted to have someone to make this journey with me.

I didn't deserve to be loved by anyone as much as Sky or Rei loved me. I had become a stranger to even myself. I didn't deserve Rayne's tears. I was fighting back tears of my own.

"She really was", Rayne smiled.

"I remember how she always looked on the bright side, no matter what happened to her. She was crafty, and resourceful." Rayne reminisced.

A tear almost escaped my eye. I was relieved to hear that Rayne remembered me for what I was, and not what I had become. She remembered the young innocent Chikaru, and not the beast that I became with my coming of age. I was a demon really.

Rayne took my hand for comfort. Her eyes looked up at me as she did. She squeezed lightly, and delicately. She had a very womanly touch to my surprise.

"Your hands are so soft, they feel so familiar." She gazed at me.

"I just use a lot of lotion", I lied looking away.

"You look so young, how old are you if you don't mind me asking", she didn't let her eyes leave me.

"Twenty-nine." I replied.

"You don't look a day over twenty", she laughed.

This seemed to be a reoccurring conversation. Everyone I met seemed to marvel at how young I looked. My appearance change must have really made me look that much younger.

"There was something you came in here for?" I changed the subject.

She let go of my hand embarrassingly.

"Right, sorry. I got a little side tracked there. I came here because I was wondering if you could admit one of my friend's kids into therapy for a little while. He's been having problems, and she told me to come down here for her." She smiled.

"So you're listed as a legal guardian for this child?" I asked.

"Yeah, her husband and her broke up a long time ago, so she came to live with me, and she signed me as the parents second guardian." She explained.

"Right, so who's the child." I asked flipping through my list of students.

She stopped me on a page and pointed. "That's her"

"He goes by the nickname of Ice." She added.

I recognized the last name. It was Thief's child.

"I'll make sure he's taken care of. You have nothing to worry about, I'm a professional", I smiled lightly.

"That's good to hear. I have complete faith in you doctor, even more so now after actually meeting you. Hard to believe this shithole school can afford to actually hire someone who knows what they're doing." She laughed.

"Well, I took it because I like working with children. I actually have a little sister enrolled here myself." I replied.

"Oh, which one is she?" Rayne asked curiously.

I pointed to a picture on my wall of me and Sky in front of the school. She was dressed to attend her first day, and I stood right next to her, only about three inches taller.

"She's adorable." Rayne smiled.

"Thank you. I think so too", I replied without facing Rayne, I kept staring at the photo.

"Rayne, you said you went to school here correct?" I asked.

"Sure did, my cousin used to work for administration, so I had access to pretty much everything in the school records." She bragged.

"Would you mind letting me get into those records, I have a few students that if I knew a little more about, I'd be able to be more helpful to them; though it's all off the record of course." I smiled.

"Sure, I'll let him know that you're cool to check out whatever you want. Anything I can do to help I'm all for." Rayne nodded.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it Rayne." I said.

"No thanks are necessary." She gave me a thumb up as she stood up.

A/N: And now we have Rayne. Also Chikaru now has access to the school records. As Lelouch would say, "just as planned".

FUN FACT: I was debating on whether I wanted to change the appearance of Rayne, but finally decided on it to sort of be a representation of how much Chikaru changed her character.


	12. Step Eleven

**Ghost**

Step Eleven: Elimination

In a colorful mess of plastic legos, I searched for a single piece to continue the building of a marvelous structure. I hadn't played with them much in my youth, but I understood the basic concept. That single brick seemed to be hidden quite well.

"We're going to make the coolest thing ever, right Chikaru-sama?" Asked a toddler Sky.

As I looked at her, I could see nothing but innocence about her. She had an aroma of pleasantry that was unmatched by any fragrance. She was the kind of teddy bear adorable that you wanted to smother with excitement.

She had on a cute little sky blue dress with white stripes that went across it in a horizontal manner. With it, she had on some simple black slip on shoes, as she wasn't able to tie her laces just yet. She even still had that signature hair pin smiling up at me from her head.

Five years of age, and not a day more, it was her fifth birthday that day as I recalled. My parents had thrown her a huge party for the occasion. The guests were to arrive in a matter of minutes; the anticipation was building up on us.

"Of course, we just have to find all the right pieces." I smiled brightly.

"Ah, I got it!" I exclaimed as I picked up a piece.

I placed it at the top of the structure and studied it up and down. It was perfect, exactly as I had planned it. I could even have fooled myself into thinking I was an architect.

"It's amazing!" Sky was cooing in delight.

"It is isn't it?" I pet the top of her head.

"What is it though?" Asked she.

"It's called the Statue of Liberty. It's a really big statue in America." I informed.

"Can we go to see the real one someday?" Asked a curious toddler.

I smiled sweetly and picked up the child and poked her on the nose. She giggled and squirmed in my arms before coming to a rest with a smile on her face.

"Of course." I replied.

"You're the best cousin ever Chikaru-sama, I hope we get to stay together for a long time", she kissed my cheek lightly.

"Of course we will, after all we're partners in crime remember?" I teased pinching her cheek gently.

"Now come on, your guests are probably going to be here soon, we should go downstairs to help mother and father." I said.

The little girl nodded. I set her down to let her walk on her own, and she grabbed my hand to race us both out the door and down the stairs. I could almost see my parents' faces.

I awoke from my pleasant slumber. I was not in my bedroom anymore, nor was I in my home back in Japan. There was no party, and my parents were dead. I was an aging woman on a mission to eliminate herself from the world. Reality sucks.

Regardless I knew that there was much for me to do. I had a job to take care of, and I had to see to it that it was fulfilled.

"Sky, are you in the principal's office?" I asked over my two way radio.

After a quick beep, I heard the reply, "yeah, I'm just over it in the duct system right now-", she was cut off by a crash sound. Surely she fell, the klutz.

"You are really clumsy, you know that?" I radioed over.

"I don't know what it is, I've been more so than usual lately. I guess this whole think makes me nervous. Anyways, I found the school camera system; I can flick it off right now." She radioed back.

"Please do, and give me confirmation." I responded.

There was a short pause followed by a, "got it."

I wasted no time and quickly navigated to the permanent records storage area in the back of the school. I could hear Sky trying to catch up with me from down the hall. She raced to get down to where I was so fast she was nearly out of breath.

"Winded pretty quickly aren't you?" I picked on her.

"I've been really tired lately." She pouted.

"Try and focus here, alright?" I scolded.

The room had file cabinet after file cabinet. In the middle were a set of computers, which I assumed kept the digital records. There was more paperwork in this room than I had ever completed in my entire life probably. There were several stacks of files that had yet to even be sorted just lying on tables.

"Alright, Sky; you go looking for the paper records in the files, they should be under Sarah James. Find them, and we'll pocket them to burn when we leave. I'll get on deleting the computer records." I instructed.

"Right, let's do it!" Sky nodded in excitement.

Finding myself on the computer wasn't too difficult, as I was fairly computer savvy. We had to use computers all the time when I was on the force. The software we had to learn was probably far more advanced than anything this school even had, or was able to afford. I also took classes on Photoshop in my free time, so really I knew my way around a computer.

These particular machines though were old, and fairly slow, that was about the only thing that slowed down me getting to the records. I couldn't believe it, here we were in the 2017 and people were still using these dinosaurs for computers. They may as well have painted the records on cave walls. I had little patience for slow computers really.

Sky plopped some folders next to me, and began to gaze over my shoulder. I suppose those were the records she found.

"What's taking so long?" Asked she.

"These fucking computers are from the damn stone age." I responded rather frustrated, even more so that Sky was rushing me.

"Can't argue with that." Clearly she knew from using them during school hours.

At last I was able to locate all the files. I swiftly started deleting them. Within a matter of only three minutes they were all gone. I had removed myself entirely from the school records, both Astraea and now here. To both of those schools, it was as if I never attended. Chikaru Minamoto never existed to both of them now.

"So we did it?" Sky asked.

"Looks like it, come on, let's get out of here." I instructed.

Hours later we stood outside the house and dropped the folders Sky had obtained into a small inferno we had made from sticks and cardboard lying around. They burned just as quickly as any other piece of paper, but for some reason these ones seemed to burn brighter. With those papers I could see my former name burning with them. I could feel myself becoming more of a stranger to everyone around me. It was a good thing, but nonetheless still saddening.

I had given up on my sense of identity years ago, but right now just being reminded of who I once was made me miss the past. My heart ached from knowing that it was impossible to turn back now. I had to accept that reality wasn't as kind as fantasy.

"Chikaru-sama, can I confess something." Sky was rather quiet in speaking, which was unlike her.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Well, I was thinking about some stuff", she admitted.

"Like what?" I asked taking a seat in front of the fire.

Sky came and sat next to me and snuggled up as close as her body would permit. She was like a blanket in a way.

"What kind of person was Rei?" Asked Sky.

I paused for a moment. I didn't want to think about Rei, as it only reminded me how much I missed her. I couldn't just leave Sky without an answer though.

"She was very beautiful. I couldn't take my eyes off of her when we first met. I was foolish though, I didn't think about her nearly as much as I should have. I didn't realize until so much later how much she cared about me." I looked down in shame.

"She was always a smart and kind person really, despite being very flirty. She definitely had the Hanazono blood in her." I could almost feel myself laughing inside remembering her flirty attitude.

"You must have really loved her didn't you?" Sky asked intently listening.

"I did", I replied plainly.

"Why'd you leave her behind? Why didn't you take her with you?" She asked curiously.

"I couldn't. I couldn't put Rei in that kind of danger; she's far safer at home thinking I'm dead than out here with us. She is too good to live this way." I could almost feel tears.

"Aren't you worried she'll miss you? Or be lonely?" Asked Sky.

I was starting to wonder why Sky was taking such an interest in this subject.

"She'll move on. She'll find someone else; someone better than me, someone who will treat her the way she deserves", I choked on the words.

Sky became tense and stopped me.

"Don't say that Chikaru-sama, you're a great person. She was blessed to have someone who loved you as much as you did." Sky insisted rather vigorously.

"Huh? Why are you so interested in this all of a sudden?" I asked with a confused expression.

"At first I never understood the whole loving girls over men thing. I probably still don't today; but I can kind of understand what you have with Rei. I know that feeling that you have for her is real." Sky answered.

"How would you know that? You're just a kid." I looked away.

"I may be seventeen, but I'm grown up enough to understand what love is Chikaru-sama." She protested.

"I doubt that", I rolled my eyes at her.

"At first, I thought when you said you were a lesbian that it was illogical, but that was because I was attracted to men. It took me a long time to realize that these concepts we have of attraction and orientation are nothing more than a myth, we just fall in love with people. There is no gender specific about it. We just fall in love." Sky said.

This all seemed very deep and enlightened for someone of her age. She was essentially right though for the most part. We really do just fall in love with people. We forget everything else, and what anyone says. We fall in love with someone and we're willing to do anything to be with them. Regardless of what the world says about it. We listen to ourselves, and no one else.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" I asked.

Sky placed a hand upon my cheek. She had such soft and young hands. They were small, but cute. They made me feel dominant over her, which was something I never felt. Rei had always been bigger than me, and I was always the recessive one.

She pulled herself up and placed her lips against mine. I was in shock at the action, but I just froze. I didn't know how to react. I didn't think anything right now in this time in my life would catch me off guard, I was mistaken.

Her lips were soft and tender, even a little moist from her lip gloss. I felt weak for that moment, for some reason I could feel my body telling me it was okay. I responded as such.

I pulled her closer and decided I couldn't let her lead. She was young, and inexperienced. She kissed like a girl; I had to show her how to kiss like a woman. I took the lead and not even a second after, I could hear a little moan escape her. She clearly had no experience in this. I let my tongue gently swirl around the tip of hers, which resulted in another light moan leaving her body.

I pulled away gently and pressed my forehead to hers, hoping she now understood the proper way to exit a kiss.

She had such cute eyes. They made her face look sort of like a kitten. She was very much like a curious little kitten in a way.

"I love you Chikaru-sama, I don't know why either. I just feel this connection with you that I've never felt before." She looked away in shame.

I could see her face was burning red. She was blushing just as furiously during the kiss as she was now, so there was little point in trying to hide it. I responded with silence.

"I know its incest, but I can't help how I feel. You probably think I'm sick or something." She refused to look at me.

I smiled and touched her chin, and used it to pivot her gaze back at me.

"You've done nothing wrong. As you said yourself, you fall in love with people, regardless of what anyone else says." I rubbed her cheek softly.

"However I don't know how I feel about all of this." I added.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to spring it on you." Sky blushed.

"It's alright, but I think we should just let this be for now, and talk about it some other time. Right now I think its best we get some rest." I instructed.

"Alright", she replied.

I picked her up and carried her into the house. She nearly fell asleep in my arms.

A/N: Incest. However keep in mind, they're cousins. And it's not really incest unless they have sex.

FUN FACT: This chapter is dedicated to a friend of mine who is going through some relationship troubles of his own. I hope he finds his Sky too.


	13. Step Twelve

**Ghost**

Step Twelve: Confession

"What is it Sky?" I asked peering at Sky who stood at the foot of my bed staring at me. Her eyes seemed to drive away the shadows of the room.

She seemed to have misplaced her pajama bottoms, as her aqua panties were exposed. Blue was truly her color, it matched so well with everything about her, including her face. I know I've rambled about her face several times, but she truly had a gorgeous face, far superior to mine. It made her look young, but sweet. You couldn't take your eyes off of her.

She answered me with silence. She stood there with her right arm behind her back holding her left elbow. Her footing was awkward as well.

"What's wrong?" I asked curiously.

She walked slowly to my bedside, not a single word leaving her lips. She placed her hand upon mine and crawled into bed next to me. The warmth she emitted made me feel calm.

Her small hand laid itself delicately on my cheek, with her face coming close to mine. She rested her head only inches away from mine. I stared back into her eyes awaiting her words.

"Does it hurt Chikaru-sama?" She asked softly.

Somehow, I knew what she meant. For some reason I could feel everything that I had been through come back to me; my parents' deaths, me abandoning my future, becoming a police officer, giving up my dreams, and slipping into paranoia. I had given up my whole life to chase after justice. This wasn't the first time I had realized it either; the memories have haunted me many times. I had created a world where justice was pointless to me, even if I had it, it would serve me nothing. I had already given up my life so long ago.

I could feel the warmth of tears drip down my cheeks. Those tears burned more than any others; they carried the pain of everything I had endured with them. That pain could never go away; it could never be erased.

"Sky..." I couldn't find the words.

She wiped the tears from my face and pressed her forehead to mine.

"You have me Chikaru-sama. I'll follow you until the very end." She whispered.

She crawled on top of me and pinned me to the bed. She had lust in her eyes, I could see it, and feel it. I had known that look, at one point I bore it.

Leaning in slowly she pressed her lips against mine. She gave sweet kisses, but still couldn't grasp the concept of kissing like a woman. I decided to demonstrate for her. I flipped her and placed myself where she was. With her under me I showed her how a woman kisses. She seemed to enjoy the lesson, as she let out gentle moans.

I parted lips with her and turned away in shame, avoiding eye contact.

"What's wrong?" She asked lovingly.

"I can't…" I let out.

"Why not?" Asked she.

"All I do is hurt people. Anyone I care about just ends up getting hurt, I don't want to go through that again." I admitted shamefully.

She tilted my head to face her again.

"I promise I'll never leave your side. You'll be able to protect me forever and ever." She smiled sweetly.

"I already can't stand the nightmares Sky… If I lost you too…" I choked.

She placed her finger over my lips.

"You're not going to lose me, I promise." She insisted.

I came in closer and planted another kiss upon her lips. I couldn't control myself. My own cousin, but for some reason I couldn't stop myself. I felt like this was right. There was something wrong with me.

Gently I planted butterfly kisses down her neck, she moaned lightly with each one going lower and lower. Pulling down the zipper of her hoodie I continued down to her collar bone, and finally to her chest. She was breathing heavy in excitement, I had never seen her this way. Part of me enjoyed it.

"You better be gentle with me Chikaru-sama", she instructed.

Even during the heat of what was going on, she insisted on using that "sama". I guess Sky truly respected me as a superior in her mind.

"Always", I replied softly.

I couldn't stop thinking about the whole event the next few days. I don't understand what caused it to happen. Was I truly losing my mind? Maybe this whole operation was formed on false pretenses? Maybe what I saw was just me losing my sanity. Everything I knew was falling apart, why I should have been any different was beyond me.

I needed to talk to someone about all of this, I couldn't just go on living like it never happened, like none of this happened. I needed to know for sure.

I spent most of the time in my office secluded from the rest of the staff at both schools. I just couldn't bring myself to deal with anyone at the current time; that all would be changed however when a Dr. Ami Gardener entered my office unannounced.

"Dr. Lauren, it's nice to see you again. Why have you been acting like a stranger?" She was quick in getting to the point of her visit.

"Sorry, I've been very busy lately…" I lied.

"Really now? I heard that you cancelled a lot of your appointments for the past few days, doesn't sound like you're too busy to me." She saw right through my lie.

"I'm under a lot of stress from my personal life right now", I informed.

"Well, what is troubling you? Surely you can tell me?" She smiled sitting on my desk.

"No, I can't. I can't tell anyone", I sighed.

"And why not?" She asked.

"It's far too complicated for anyone to understand." I replied.

"Emily, you can tell me anything, we're not just co-workers, we're friends." She smiled as she faced me.

Something about her made me feel like I could trust her. I wanted to trust her, or maybe I just wanted to trust someone.

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked in a more serious tone.

"Of course, I'm a doctor remember? It's part of my job." She reminded.

"I mean this is the mother of all secrets, if I open up to you and let the skeletons out of my closet, you have to swear you'll never tell a soul." I was close to threatening her.

"I won't, why so aggressive all of a sudden?" Asked she.

"I mean it. If you tell anyone you'll be putting several lives in danger." I warned.

"Emily, I promise." She spoke in a serious tone as well.

I took a deep inhale followed by an exhale.

"My name isn't Emily Lauren, and I'm not a doctor." I started.

She didn't interrupt me, instead she waited for me to go on and reveal more.

"My name is Chikaru Minamoto." I said almost inaudibly.

Her expression changed to one of shock and surprise. Clearly the information I just divulged was more than she had expected.

"The girl who died just a while ago? The detective?" She asked leaning in.

"The same." I nodded.

She placed her hand over her mouth, "you were Shizuma's friend! Why didn't you tell me? Everyone thinks you're dead!"

"And they shall stay thinking such. Chikaru is dead to the world, and that's the way it needs to stay." I was stern.

"Alright, alright, but what's going on?" She tilted her head.

"I'm not too sure myself. To be honest I think I've lost it completely. I really could use your help doctor." I pleaded.

"What do you need?" She seemed genuinely interested.

"Can you examine me? I don't feel like my head is on right really. I could use a professional opinion if I've completely lost it, or I'm just abnormal." I admitted.

She smiled and placed an arm around my shoulder. "I'm sure it's nothing, but let's go back to my office and we'll see alright?" She said.

I followed her quietly, for some reason I felt lightly relieved that I had let out the truth to someone.

A/N: Short chapter, not a lot going on. Sorry to those expecting a lemon.

Fun Fact: I was debating on whether to have a lemon or not. _


	14. Step Thirteen

**Ghost**

Step Thirteen: Healing

"Fuck!" A scream could be heard all across the world.

Two maidens stood together one at her knees pinned by the right hand under a rock. She couldn't pull herself free, her hand surely crushed; the other trying to pull her out of her trap, with little success.

In the lonely desert many snarling growls could be heard from the distance. The two of them were in a frantic panic. The redhead that was pinned pushed the other back. She gestured for her to run, but she denied the request.

"Get out of here!" She hissed.

"I won't leave you here", the other replied trying to assist her once more.

"You have to; if you don't we'll both die!" She growled.

The blonde kneeled down to get closer to the rock. With that gesture she let out, "then we die together."

"No, you must live. Someone needs to tell her of the advance before it's too late. You have to get back to her and let her know or everything is lost. We can't afford that right now." The redhead insisted the other leave her.

"What will happen to you?" The blonde asked curiously.

"I knew I was expendable when I first signed up." She smiled sheepishly.

"Alright…" Said the blonde as she rose to her feet.

"May she guide you." She added before turning away.

"It's you I'm more concerned about." The redhead let out a small laugh.

With no more words the blonde turned and ran leaving the redhead there to her fate. The hissing and growling of the distance approached closer and closer with each passing second. The desert would soon be stained with blood that much was certain. In the sands laid many others dead already, long since passed, many just skeletons.

She gazed around solemnly for a moment at all those who lay near her in the sands. She was ready to join them in their slumber. Death was only an escape for everyone here now, and she knew it. It was only until you were ready to embrace it that you could finally pass with no regrets.

As comforting as the idea was, she knew she had one last job to do, and that was to hold off their foes as long as she could. To die in battle, that's what she wanted. She had to get free, by any means possible.

Tugging at her arm, she could not free her hand even the slightest. She could feel it was broken in possibly every way there was to be broken. It was at that moment she realized she wouldn't be leaving this spot with that hand.

Reaching for her sidearm she pointed it at her wrist and looked away as she pulled the trigger. No gunshots. All that came out was a series of clicks. No ammo. She had feared such, and turned to plan B.

Taking a deep breath she then began cracking down the hilt of her gun against her wrist as hard as possible. She hit it over and over, attempting to break the joint as much as she could. She winced in pain but did all she could to hold in her screams, she didn't want to give the bastards the satisfaction. The pain was overwhelming, but the adrenaline masked it with a sense of hypertension. She was running on pure adrenaline now.

Putting her tooth to the skin she chewed away at the flesh, ripping off as much as she could. She dug right through the muscle ignoring the pain; it was numb to her now. She was determined to get free. Ripping and tearing, she finally reached the bone where she came down at it with several more pistol cracks.

She could see the joint was held together lightly now, and grabbed hold of her right arm and pulled with all of her strength. The ripping hurt more than anything she had ever experienced, but her mind canceled out the pain. Duty always came first with her. She was a proud person, and willing to show it even in the end.

Finally the rest of the arm came free. She quickly ripped off a piece of her shirt to cover the dripping stub and tied it with a simple knot. Clearly she didn't care about proper medical procedure anymore.

Scurrying away from the rock she picked up a blade from a lost body and howled ready to fight as much as she could, rushing into battle without fear.

Darkness befell her as a mob of black beasts surrounded her. She could see the emptiness in their eyes. There was no emotion from them. No happiness, no sadness, no fear, just murder. It's all they knew. They had the foulest stench reeking from their breath she had ever smelt; sadly it wasn't the first time she had come face to face with them before.

The one standing the furthest from the others hissed and spat all over as it did. She showed it no fear as it did to her.

"I've been ready for this for the past five years. You don't scare me anymore." She responded.

The largest of the group dived at her, and she responded by impaling it with her blade. She tossed the body off of her and jumped driving it into another. Quickly she pivoted and slashed another with amazing dexterity.

It was only a matter of time however before their numbers became too much for even her to handle. She sighed lightly, and reached for a cigarette. She lit it up while slicing at another approaching her. Taking a drag she pulled a grenade off of her belt, and a smile played her lips as she pulled the pin and tossed said pin into oblivion.

She pressed the record button on her soldier log tape recorder and began to speak for the very last time.

"This is first Lieutenant Jenifer Warrant. I just wanted to say, it's been an honor serving, and I don't regret a single minute of it. Tell her I'm sorry, but I won't be there during that celebration when this is all over. Take care." She stopped the recording.

With a large beast coming at her, she jumped at him and jammed the grenade down his throat.

Only seconds later the entire group was lost in an explosion of fire and dust. She smiled only a moment before it happened. Her final thoughts being those of happiness, back to a time when this all used to be a better place. She died with a smile on her face.

"Chikaru! Wake up!" Ami yelled.

"Huh?" I said in confusion.

"You were under hypnosis remember?" Ami asked.

"Right… So what does it all mean Doctor?" I asked curiously.

Ami looked like she had a hard time finding words.

"Well you relayed a story of something that clearly reflects what you told me before, however it's a physical impossibility right now. I'm not about to submit to the idea of future telling, however the story you told was as vivid as a memory. It's like it's been there in your head for some time, and not something you just made up." Ami placed her hand on her chin in thought.

"What does it mean though?" I asked calmly.

"Well, you're certainly not crazy, considering the fact that something supernatural did happen to you, I'd say it's not out of the ordinary at this point. You said this all happened when you killed Grace, whom you said was the Goddess of Life right?" She asked, she was clearly finding all of this fascinating.

"Correct." I replied.

"Perhaps you are seeing some of the memories of Grace projected?" Ami suggested.

"It's possible, but I feel as though these are things yet to happen, things destined to become. I don't quite understand it really. A part of me says that this is going to be reality soon." I rubbed my head from a headache.

"That is also a viable explanation. It's well beyond my field however, I deal with natural things and the science behind them, clearly what has happened to you, goes far beyond science." She nodded.

"So I'm not insane?" I asked.

"Not that I can see." She answered.

"Damn, was kind of hoping I was, so I could wake up and this would all just be a dream." I sighed.

"We can't waste our whole lives dreaming. I made that mistake before; I think we've all done it; sooner or later though we have to face reality." Ami spoke.

I sighed and lifted myself to my feet. I was a little dizzy after being hypnotized, but I was managing alright.

"Chikaru, I have so many questions for you though." Ami admitted.

"I'm sorry Ami, but I can't answer them. I wish I could, and it'd be nice to have someone else to make this journey with me, but I can't." I sighed.

"I understand." She smiled warmly.

"Ami, I think it goes without saying, but no one can ever know about this meeting. No one must know that Chikaru Minamoto is still alive." I reminded.

"Don't worry, I won't tell a soul. The secret is safe with me." She gave a thumb up.

She was rather childish at times for her age.

"Is there anything else that is bothering you?" Asked she.

"Yeah actually…" I admitted.

"What is it?" She asked interested.

I sat down and inhaled followed by a powerful exhale. I was about to lay a lot onto this poor woman.

"I'm a selfish disgusting person. I don't even understand how I could let this happen to me really. I have ruined the innocent girl I once was, and corrupted her with sin. And now I am doing the same to Sky." I was almost in tears as I hung my head.

"What are you talking about?" Ami attempted to calm me.

"I have kept so many secrets; I've lied to cover up more lies. I have put envy and hatred in my heart, and held them closer than anything else. I let them fuel me, and it has turned me into a monster. I'm turning Sky into that same monster." I let tears out.

"You're not a monster Chikaru, you're just confused right now that's all. You've done what you felt was best, and if you hadn't a lot of people might not even be here right now." Ami walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder before sitting next to me.

"I have betrayed my wife even…" I remembered out loud.

"How so?" Asked Ami.

"I…" I bit my tongue for a moment.

"I had sex with Sky…" I admitted shamefully as I turned away from her.

The thought still in my head, I could only think of the act of incest that I had committed, along with the act of adultery. Ami must have been disgusted with me.

"Sky? Your cousin?" She asked a little confused.

"Yes…" I admitted.

"Why?" Asked she.

"I don't know… It just sort of happened. We both just felt a connection that I had not felt in so long." I explained.

"Well, it's not abnormal really. Many people marry their cousins even. There's nothing odd about it. You just care deeply for your cousin, and that care manifested in a physical way." Ami spoke.

"I suppose…" I sighed.

I was calming down a good amount.

"I am concerned however about you mood swings here. You're clearly under a lot of stress and thus as a result your moods are going from one extreme to the next. Is it alright if I give you something to help you with that?" She asked.

"Yeah go for it." I sighed.

She pulled a few bottle of pills from her cabinet and handed them to me.

"They're mood stabilizers. They'll help you stay calm, take one every morning and you should be okay. I'm guessing since your identity has to remain a secret, I can't exactly prescribe them to you as you won't be able to pick them up. I have these as samples; I get them all the time. I'm giving you a bunch so you have enough to last a while. If you need more come find me." She instructed.

"Thanks doctor, but won't you get in trouble for giving away medication?" Asked I.

"Call me Ami, and not really. After all, you don't exist remember? I can't get in trouble for giving away medication to someone who is dead." She smirked.

I smiled in return. I stood up and shook her hand.

"Thank you Ami. I feel a lot better." I smiled warmly.

"Come back and visit me soon, okay?" She pulled me in for a hug.

"I will", I replied.

"And Chikaru", she stopped be as I was making my way out.

I turned back and let out a, "hm?"

"Stay safe okay?" She told me.

I nodded.

A/N: Many apologies to those not used to such graphic images. It IS relevant though I assure you. So we are pretty much past the halfway mark for this story now.

Fun Fact: I spent a long time planning the first part of this.


End file.
